Audi Q3 vs Audi A3

What's the difference?

Replacing a popular model is fraught with danger. Existing customers will tell you they love it, while focus groups of non-customers will tell you why they hate it and sometimes carmakers get caught trying to appease both groups.

Sometimes they’ll make it too big or change too much in the search for more sales and ultimately end up removing the elements that made it popular in the first place.

Which is why Audi has been extra careful with some subtle evolution for this new-generation Q3 SUV and Sportback. This isn’t just a popular model for Audi Australia, it has been the best-selling model for the German brand for more than five years, so getting it wrong would be a disaster.

Can a hatchback still be a fun and fashionable way to get around when the SUV has become such a status trend?

The facelifted Audi A3 certainly makes a case for it.

The refreshed 2025 A3 is, as Audi puts it, more competitive than before when it comes to not only value but also, you might agree, style.

Last year, before the update even arrived, the A3 sold almost as well as its Volkswagen Golf corporate sibling. In fact, it’s Audi’s third most popular model behind the Q3 and Q5 SUVs.

It’s also third in its segment of ‘Small cars under $40,000’, behind only the MG4 electric car and, you guessed it, the VW Golf.

As such, it also outsells its actual closest rivals the BMW 1 Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class, both of which are close to the A3 on price.

Now that it’s been given a bit more razzle dazzle, let’s see if the A3 can keep that momentum going.