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.
This Jeep isn’t a 4WD, it’s electric, front-wheel drive and built on the same platform as cars from France.
It’s not sounding very ‘Jeep’ so far, but the Avenger isn’t trying to be a traditional Jeep in that sense.
What it is trying to do is draw in a new kind of Jeep owner, and lead the brand into the electric era without being all ‘EV-ish’ - just a car that happens to be electric.
So can Jeep do it? We’re jumping in the light SUV as it hits our shores to find out.
So is this new Q3 good enough to remain Audi’s number one choice? In a word, yes.
Audi has resisted the temptation that some brands fall into by making too many changes to a proven sales performer. This new Q3 isn’t radically different from the old Q3, but it has improved in almost every way.
It isn’t different enough to widely expand its appeal to a new wave of customers, but there’s no reason it won’t remain Audi’s most popular choice for the foreseeable future.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
The Jeep Avenger is a strong move for the brand as a city-focused offering, and particularly as its first EV.
The styling and easy driving experience should be a draw, but its price in an increasingly competitive small SUV (and electric car) market could be a turn-off for some - even if it is only few thousand dollars more expensive than the slightly larger Compass.
Despite a couple of small flaws and a lacklustre safety rating overseas, the Avenger is ultimately one of the best-driving cars the brand has put out in years, and deserves a look if you’re keen on a practical but stylish EV.