Audi says no S3 for the US

[Kirby]

AutoWeek:
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" The official word from Ingolstadt is that we shouldn’t plan on buying an Audi S3 in the United States anytime soon. It is, after all, a three-door hatchback, and we all know that Americans don’t buy three-door hatchbacks."
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So is it really true that Americans don't like 3 door hatchbacks, or is this a self-fullfilling prophecy? If they don't offer it how CAN we buy it?

 

[Tom]

I think the big reason is pricing. A well equipped A3 cost almost as much as a base A4.

 

[DSK]

The S3 models here in the UK are £26,000 just under £29,000 with the basic A3 1.6ltr model costing just over £16,000. That is a lot of meoney and to be honest you can get batter value for money, in my opinion these cars only make sense on the used car market.

I thought that in the USA these types of cars are not a big seller due to the smaller size therefore if they were imported they wouldn't sell many of them which hardly seems worth the hassle for Audi shipping them over in the first place.

 

[adrean8j]

Yeah but pricing is a big deal....same reason VW doesnt sell as many models in the states....

 

[ThatOneGuy]

GermanCarFans.com quoted $45K, that's a lot of cabbage for A3.

 

[MrElussive]

Hatchbacks don't sell well in the US, and if you want a German hatch, there is already the VW GTI.

 

[tool fan]

Ok folks, I read S3....BIG difference from the A3, either or the Audi mark is going to suffer from this. The A3 and S3 are awsome cars. especially when BMW brings the 1 series over.

 

[mclarensmps]

Maybe they will decide to bring it in, in the future after they see the response bmw gets with the 1. Also, a friend mentioned to me that 3 door A3's arent available here in canada (so i assume the states as well), ever since i tried to find one on the road but didnt notice any, is this true?

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Ok folks, I read S3....BIG difference from the A3, either or the Audi mark is going to suffer from this. The A3 and S3 are awesome cars. especially when BMW brings the 1 series over.

It's not $45K awesome (base price).