Small sedan, crossover expand Audi's range

摘要

Audi will launch a pair of entry-level models in the United States next year, a one-two punch that will expand the German luxury brand's pool of customers. The new A3 sedan will arrive in the United States in the beginning of 2014, with the Q3 compact crossover following at the end of the year. Both are expected to start around $30,000 - low enough to give more buyers an entree to Audi. In a way, these launches mark a return to small-car roots for Audi of America, which relied on the A4 line for more than half of its sales a decade ago. The A3 will be roughly the same size as the A4 that drove Audi's U.S. revival in the mid-1990s. However, larger and more profitable cars and SUVs have recently made up a growing slice of Audi's U.S. sales - and the brand will push further in that direction as well. More high-performance S and RS variants are on the way.