Audi A3 Sedan a niche too far?
Audi is resisting the need to build an A3 sedan... Go figure!The brand that seems to be ready to attack every niche is believed to be resisting the call to add a small sedan to its range. Sources within Audi say the brand burghers are currently resist a growing push to build a sedan version of its next A3 small car.
The German carmaker is under pressure from its North American and Chinese distributors to build a four-door small car instead of the current five-door Sportback. However, while they've been told an A3 sedan is not needed in the global A3 strategy, sources insist that strategy is Eurocentric and ignores the reality of two of the biggest markets in the world.
"Audi has pushed the A3 Sportback hard in the US, but it hasn't taken off because it sold 9000 in its first full year and has been in decline ever since," the source said.
"Sedans are the only things that really work in this market for cars that size. The Sportback is a beautiful car for Europe, but hatches and wagons just don't work here," he insisted.
To reinforce the point, Ford's sedan version of the Focus outsells the hatch in the US, BMW does not sell the hatchback version of the 1-Series in North America and Mercedes-Benz's next B-Class-sized car will be a sedan as well.
"The Chinese market doesn't take hatches, either.
"The A3 will get left behind both here and there without a sedan, because the Chinese buyers prefer sedans over wagons and hatches," our source stated.
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