2013 Audi A3 Leaked Ahead of Geneva Debut

A full set of official photos of the upcoming generation of Audi’s A3 hatchback were spilled onto the web yesterday affording us our best look at the new compact car before it heads over to the 2012 Geneva Motor Show for its world premiere.

These pictures reveal the three-door hatchback variant, though Audi is planning to expand the range with the five-door Sportback, a two-door convertible and for the first time ever, a four-door saloon based on last year’s A3 sedan concept.

On the outside, despite having a slightly more aggressive front boasting Audi’s new family face with the six-point grille and “angrier” headlamps, the new A3 could easily be mistaken for a facelifted version of the current model.

However, this is not the case as the Audi A3 is the first production model in the VW Group to use the company’s brand-new Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) vehicle architecture, which will underpin most new VW Group cars including the Golf Mk7.

The new A3 will be launched with an assortment of four-cylinder engines: the entry-level offering will be a 120bhp 1.4 TFSI, next up will be a 177bhp 1.8 TFSI and diesel fans will get a 138bhp 2.0 TDI.

Audi already officially unveiled the new A3′s interior at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, although the model in these photos does sport a unique new black and orange colour scheme.

The overall look of the A3′s interior is similar to the one found in the A1 city car, which is a welcome departure of the dated cabin in today’s A3. The newest A3 will also gain a significant upgrade in technology, adopting the same general MMI system used in Audi’s A6 and A8 models. That means a familiar touchwheel located in the centre console accompanied by a new touchpad that allows drivers to “write” characters with the swipe of a finger. The A3 MMI system will also be updated with Multi Media eXtension, which is a flash-based system that promises to make upgrading a snap.

The highlight of the A3′s interior is a new retractable LED display. Although dash-mounted screens are nothing new in the auto industry, the A3′s system is groundbreaking as it is the first-ever in-vehicle application of 3D graphics.

Finally, the 2013 A3 will gain an advanced head-up display unit. In addition to displaying standard information like vehicle speed and navigation directions, the HUD system will be able to display the distance to the vehicle ahead, warn the driver of direction changes after a hillcrest and even alert the driver as to which direction a pedestrian is walking in the road ahead.

Expect to see full official details of the new 2013 Audi A3 to be released within the next couple of weeks.