2013 Audi Q3

Consumers are mad for crossover SUVs, especially compacts, so it’s no surprise that automakers are madly spinning out more variations in hopes of snaring extra sales, preferably at the competition’s expense. Germany’s “Premium Three,” for example, have gone gaga for coupe-styled SUVs. BMW started the trend with its sloped-roof premium-midsize X6, and is eyeing a smaller X4 companion for around mid-decade.Mercedes-Benz reportedly plans to answer the X6, also around mid-decade, with a slinkier version of its premium-midsize M-Class. Tipped for the MLC badge, it will be built alongside the M-Class at Mercedes’ Alabama plant. In addition, the tristar folks are said to be working on a sporty compact SUV, based on theirC-Class premium-compact-car platform, as a running mate to the GLK-Class.


Maddest of all, perhaps, is Volkswagen Group’s upscale Audi division, which is supplementing its compact Q5 and large Q7 wagons with a smaller compact called Q3, and is reportedly plotting a coupe-style Q4 compact and a similar midsize Q6. Why all the activity? Because the powers in Ingolstadt, Bavaria believe that more crossovers will help accelerate their brand’s global sales growth. As an Audi insider recently told Britain’s Autocar magazine, “It’s clear that demand for SUVs and crossovers is still in an upswing phase and will remain so for some years to come. We want to make sure we have the [model] coverage to satisfy it.”

Even so--and despite aiming to reach 1.5 million global sales by 2014 (versus a hoped-for 1.2 million in 2011)--Audi hasn’t said anything yet about the Q3s coming to North America. The silence may reflect a pricing concern. In Europe, the base 4-cylinder Q3 stickers from €29,900 or some $42,400 at current exchange rates. That compares with $42,500 for the top-line U.S.-market 2011 Q5, a larger vehicle with V6 power. To make room for the Q3 in North America, Audi would have three options: move Q5 upmarket in price and equipment, bring in a stripped-down Q3, or position Q3 above Q5.

None of these choices are very appealing. For starters, the Q3 looks rather like a tall A3 hatchback, Audi’s 4-door premium-compact car that’s not exactly been a dealer door-buster in these parts. The Q5, by contrast, is Audi’s number-two seller in North America (after the A4/S4 premium-compact cars), and marketers would doubtless be reluctant to tamper with it. A “decontented” Q3 might allow decent profit margins for U.S. dealers, but would risk sullying Audi’s premium brand image. Pricing Q3 above the Q5 might prove as tough a sell as pricing A3 at about the same level as comparable A4 sedans.

With all this, the Q3 would seem a long shot for joining Audi’s U.S. lineup. But stranger things have happened, and Audi shows no sign of letting up on its new-product offensive, so the Q3 does have a chance, hence this report. If it does cross The Pond, your local dealer probably won’t have it in stock until model-year 2013 at the earliest.