Audi of America officially announced plans for the arrival of the 2015 Audi A3 family of premium compact cars, including three body styles, five new unique engines and seven variants.
This all-new 2015 Audi A3 lineup begins with the A3 sedan, which goes on sale in the spring of 2014. The A3 sedan plays a pivotal role in the soon to be expanding Audi A3 family and will be priced from a base MSRP of $29,900.
It will be joined later in the fall of 2014 by the Audi A3 Cabriolet, A3 TDI clean diesel sedan, the high-performance S3 sedan.
Audi of America also confirmed that it in early 2015, it will be adding to the all-new A3 family by offering the A3 Sportback e-tron with a gasoline electric plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model for the first time in the U.S. market.
Audi first revealed the A3 Sportback e-tron at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. This vehicle demonstrates the production intent of e-tron using parallel plug-in hybrid technology, a practical first step towards electrified driving which helps mitigate the range anxiety concerns associated with most full battery electric vehicles.
The A3 model line will offer impressive power and groundbreaking efficiency with five different engine variants including the 170 horsepower 1.8 TFSI, 220 horsepower 2.0 TFSI, 150 horsepower 2.0 TDI clean diesel, and an impressive 290 horsepower in the 2.0 TFSI powered S3.
The most exotic dish on the A3 menu will be Sportback e-tron. Speaking of power, the Audi Sportback e-tron will make an impressive 201 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque in hybrid mode — enough to turn zero-to-60 mph in 7.5 seconds, Audi says, despite the extra battery weight.
The A3 Sportback e-tron will offer four driving modes: EV (battery only); hybrid; hold (which maintains the battery charge); and charge, which operates the car in hybrid mode while recharging the battery, which Audi says takes less than 20 minutes.
The A3 marks the first time that an A-segment vehicle will offer MMI technology, Audi drive select, 4G LTE connectivity and Bang & Olufsen audio.
In addition to the standard technologies, the Audi A3 line-up will feature new, segment first technologies. One key example is the implementation of the new NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU). The NVIDIA GPU generates complex three-dimensional images used in all online, voice control, media navigation and telephone functions. Fundamentally, the Tegra graphics processor powers tablets and other mobile devices and is also used in 3D gaming and various medical applications.
The A3 line-up for the first time will now come with an available Audi drive select system. Audi drive select allows the driver to adjust throttle response, shift points, and the electromechanical steering effort. Similar to other Audi models, Audi drive select has four settings that include Auto, Dynamic, Comfort and Individual.
