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NEWS
Heads up for Audi A3 Vario
Speculation firms on Audi's plans for a new high-roof MPV based on the A3 hatchRumours of an A3-based MPV aimed at the likes of BMW's 2 Series Active Tourer and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class are beginning to take on more weight amid suggestions there will be a possible unveiling at the Geneva motor show in March 2015.
As if Audi's existing model line-up isn't already versatile enough, the much-discussed small MPV from Audi is said to ride on the Volkswagen group's widely-used MQB platform and has been provisionally dubbed A3 Vario.
An artist's rendering, supplied by Automedia, hints at how the A3 Vario could look. With a high roof and, possibly, a longer wheelbase than the current A3 Sportback, the Vario is said to be designed to accommodate a third row of seats, qualifying it as a genuine MPV.
Word is the design – a concept version of which has reportedly been finalised at Audi – delivers interior space to challenge the A4 Avant, as well as storage capacity that outdoes all existing A3 variants.
The big question is how comfortably an A3-based MPV would sit in the current Audi line-up.
Even though its Teutonic opposition is clearly-enough identified, the idea of slotting a high-roof A3-based hatch into a range that already includes the likes of the five-seat Q3 SUV would seem to be encouraging a degree of cannibalisation within Audi.
The rationale here could be based on the fact that SUV and MPV concepts are mutually exclusive: Buyers attracted to the "lifestyle" capabilities of an SUV are looking for something entirely different to the family-swallowing abilities sought after by multi-passenger MPV buyers.
Mercedes-Benz, for now at least, has encountered no such conflict locally. Its B-Class is unhindered by the GLK SUV, available overseas but not engineered for right-hand drive. In the case of BMW, the upcoming front-drive 2 Series Active Tourer could be seen as a possible thorn in the side for the X1 SUV – a vehicle that in the next generation is expected to ride on the same UKL platform that underpins the Active Tourer, which will launch locally this month.
According to Audi Australia's senior product communications executive Shaun Cleary, "Nothing has been communicated" on the A3 Vario to Australian operations by Audi AG. We will have to wait a bit longer, maybe until the expected reveal of the Vario in Geneva next year, before any speculation on whether or not it would have a place in the Australian Audi range.
In the light of the company's readiness to bring niche models and variants into Australia – for example the Q7 e-tron hybrid that's on the way here – a model like the A3 Vario could presumably slot in as an adjunct to the current A3 Sportback range, somewhere below the Q3 SUV (which opens bidding at around $47,000).
Presuming the Vario does see the light of day, assessing its viability for Audi in Australia would be a matter of not just finding a comfortable spot in the model line-up, but also amortising the cost of homologating the car for Australian Design Rules certification against projected sales.
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Written byTim Britten
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