What's Wrong With This Picture: I'll Take The Audi In "Small" Edition
Audi’s upcoming A3 may represent a certain amount of a break from recent Audi strategy, but as new sketches of the compact luxury car emerge, it’s clear that Audi isn’t taking any steps into the unknown with its design. Park this sketch next to a new A6, and the only difference appears to be some extra nose and rear deck. I suppose that if the fashion gods are smiling upon you, as they seem to be smiling upon Audi these days, you keep your designs consistent and conservative. But with Mercedes-Benz breaking out of the “one sausage, different lengths” mold and throwing funky, expressive hatches into the A3’s competitive space, shouldn’t Audi be trying a little harder to beat off the oldest trap in German luxury sedan styling?
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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I think Audi is getting it right, with the exception of the TT. Audi has never been about flash. Remember what BMW M cars used to look like? That's Audi. "Captain sensible" as Clarkson calls them. I think the new CLS is pretty hideous, and it will age rapidly. The A7 on the other hand won't have either problem. The TT though I think is still trying to compete with the old Z4 and SLK. Its rivals aren't luxury Miatas anymore, they've grown up, and the TT needs to follow.
I do think Audi has taken the OSDL (one sausage, different lengths; can we just say OSDL?) thing a bit too far lately. The latest A4/A6/A8 really just look too much alike, but more importantly, they don't, IMO, look as good as their predecessors (well, A4 and A8 don't; the A6 looks exactly the same). The A6, in fact, is now going on its third generation with a design that first came out in 1998. That said, at least from what I've seen so far, I actually find this new a3 sedan to be the best looking new Audi sedan in quite some time. It's chunky and pert, and I believed sized, like the first A4. I think it's exactly what they need, at least here in the US, now that the A4 and the others just keep getting bigger and bigger.