Audi A3 2016 News

Hot on the heels of the Australian government's mandatory Takata airbag recall, Ford, Audi and Tesla have joined the list of carmakers to detail which of it's models are affected.

As the end looms for homegrown Fords, you might want to grab a deal on a Falcon or Territory this month.

Luxury SUV sales growth continues during first five months of 2016.

The cost of top-down motoring in a Mercedes-Benz is about to get $20,000 cheaper.

The New York motor show in April will see the announcement of which vehicle has won the 2014 World COTY, and there looks to be a tough -- and very varied -- field of finalists.Last year's winner was the Volkswagen Golf, which also took awards in pretty well every country on the globe. But this year it could be anything from the little electric BMW i3 to the offroading Jeep Cherokee and even the Citroen C4 peoplemover, judging by the shortlist.A panel of 69 motoring experts from around the world -- including Carsguide's Paul Gover and National Motoring Editor Joshua Dowling -- will choose the winner from: Audi A3, BMW 4 Series, BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Ford Fusion/Mondeo, Infiniti Q50, Jeep Cherokee, Lexus IS, Mazda3, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Octavia.The 10 finalists for the 2014 World Luxury Car are the Bentley Flying Spur, BMW X5, Cadillac ELR, Cadillac Escalade, Maserati Ghibli, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Porsche Macan, Range Rover Sport and Rolls-Royce Wraith.Due to a tie, there are 11 finalists for the 2014 World Performance Car: Alfa Romeo 4C, Audi RS 6 Avant, BMW M6 Gran Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Ferrari 458 Speciale, Ford Fiesta ST, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster, Mercedes-Benz A/CLA45 AMG, Porsche 911 GT3, Porsche 911 Turbo and Volkswagen Golf GTI.A separate panel of five 'green' experts will choose the 2014 World Green Car from Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (+ Audi e-gas), BMW i3, Honda Accord Hybrid, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Volkswagen XL1.Similarly, a panel of five design experts will decide on the 2014 World Car Design of the Year, from among: BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda3, Lexus IS, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Volkswagen XL1.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Do you know where your owner's manual is? Did you read it from cover to cover when you bought your car? Do you read it these days? Chances are, the answer to at least one of those questions is “no”. Maybe that's because you're a whiz at cars, or maybe you feel like you know everything there is to know about your current ride, but for the rest of us, owner's manuals come in awfully handy. Problem is, there's a lot of information contained in a well-written owner's manual, and finding the answer to a particular question can often be difficult. Wouldn't it be easier if you could just look at a particular element on your car and know everything there was to know about it? Well, now you can -- at least on the Audi A1 and A3. In a press release from Audi's tech partner, Metaio, the two companies have just unveiled the Audi A3 eKurzinfo Augmented Reality App, an interactive owner's manual, stored right on your smartphone. It's the second augmented reality manual from them, following the recent launch of one for the A1 -- and suggests more will spread across the Audi range. The apps work very simply: when users have questions about a particular element on their car, they simply crack open the app and aim their camera at the element in question. For example, in the video above, a passenger wants to know about the stop-start button in the middle of the A3's dash. He points his phone's camera at the button, the app recognises the gadget, and a description pops up. He can then tap that description for a bit more information. A concern about the temp gauge leads to information about what's happening, and then direction to find the coolant top-up point -- a blessing for those who open a bonnet to find a confusing jumble of engineering underneath. What's also interesting is that the app draws its information from the cloud, so the app itself rarely needs to be updated, if ever. Provided you're not scrambling for information in a location without cell service, that's a great thing. We're predisposed to like this sort of technology. It's convenient, it's intuitive, and it's constantly updated, making it especially useful in the case of recalls and other problems. It's not yet a substitute for a hard copy of the owner's manual, but it could be very soon. The Audi A3 eKurzinfo Augmented Reality App is slated to debut on iOS devices. (No word on when an Android equivalent might appear.) It hasn't arrived on iTunes just yet, but if you're curious, you can check out the similar app for the A1. www.thecarconnection.com  

A3 product head Frank Hermann revealed at this week’s global sedan launch that a cabriolet will round out the range and will share the sedan’s edgy styling. “The car will debut at Frankfurt and it will launch in Europe in February or March," he tells Carsguide in Hungary. “Like all of the A3s, the cabrio proportions are right. It will be based on the A3 Sportback but the body has been taken from the sedan.” He makes the distinction because, despite the joint drivetrains, not one exterior panel is shared between the five-door hatch and sedan. Hermann oversaw the development of the A3 range and says the cabrio is a huge step up from the outgoing car. “The last A3 was designed eight years ago and we have come a long way since then,” he says while noting the lightness and strength of the modular MQB chassis that underpins all new compact cars in the VW Group stable has been a major asset in improving ridigity of the roofless model. “Flex is always an issue with a cabrio but the (MQB) platform has given our engineers a head-start in this area,” he says. “It will share drivetrains with the other A3 models and, as you have seen, they are strong engines with good character. The interior is also important for cabriolet buyers - they want high-quality - and we have this also.” Hermann adds there are no plans to develop an A3 coupe to compete with the Mercedes-Benz CLA and BMW 1-Series “at this time”.  

...Volkswagen Golf, which shares the mechanical package under the new German soft top.  

The latest generation of the Audi A3 arrived here last year, and we’ve already spied the A3 Cabrio and its sporty ‘S3’ variant testing in prototype form. But these computer-generated renderings give us a fairly accurate look as to how the new convertible will be styled. With many buyers in the luxury market now looking for smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles, the new generation of the A3 Cabrio could be too hard to resist. The new A3 Cabrio will be bigger than the model it replaces.The car’s only direct rival will be the upcoming 2-Series Convertible from BMW, which replaces the current 1-Series Convertible, although we could eventually see a convertible added to Mercedes-Benz’s new small car family. Powertrain options are likely to include a base 1.8-litre TFSI gasoline engine rated at 132 kW and 249 Nm, as well as a more powerful 2.0-litre unit. The high-performance S3 Cabrio will feature the same 2.0-litre TFSI with 218 kW of power and 379 Nm of torque found in the S3 Hatch and S3 Sportback. Inside, owners will find nice round dials and air vents, plus plenty of leather. Audi's latest MMI interface system will handle the media and navigation functions, with displays of either 15 or 18 cm available. Look for a debut of the Audi A3 Cabrio sometime next year, which means you can expect a 2015 model year arrival. www.motorauthority.com  

The first hatches arrive in May, quattro and hotter takes in September. Spied here is next year's sedan -- or is this a liftback a la the A5? Back views suggest that it's so.