Audi makes Q3 greener to keep lead over BMW X1

[AF News Desk]

The Audi Q3 will get more efficient powertrains with technology such as the crossover’s first use of fuel-saving cylinder deactivation as part of the model’s mid-cycle refresh.
The revised Q3, which will launch in Europe in February and later in the year in the U.S., also will offer a revised design and have more standard features to try to stay ahead of rivals such as the BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA.
The Q3 is the top-selling model in Europe’s fast-growing premium crossover segment followed by the X1.
Half-year European sales for the segment were up 9 percent to 232,075, according to JATO Dynamics, helped by a 5 percent gains in Q3 sales to 40,730 units.
“The Q models are important growth drivers for the brand, and 2014 has been the most successful year for the Q3 so far,” an Audi spokeswoman said.
Global sales of the Q3 rose nearly 60 percent last year to 145,000 cars and are up more than 30 percent in the first 10 months of 2014, according to the company.
Mark Fulthorpe, director of global light vehicle production at IHS Automotive, expects the Q3’s sales rise to continue. “We are forecasting that the Q3 will grow by 40,000 units [globally] this year due almost entirely to higher production in China,” Fulthorpe said. “That would mean it would overtake BMW’s X1, where output is set to drop by about 20,000 this year as demand falls in Europe and the model heads toward the end of its life cycle.”
IHS Automotive expects global production for the segment to surge to 1.1 million vehicles in 2019 from just about 220,000 in 2011 as German premium brands add more compact crossovers to their lineups and others, such as Infiniti, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo and Cadillac, all look to come with their first entries.
Using features such as cylinder deactivation, Audi has reduced the revised Q3's CO2 emissions to 127g/km from a previous low of 137g/km.



Lower CO2
In addition to improving the output of the gasoline-powered TFSI engines, Audi equipped the 1.4-liter, inline-four unit with so-called “displacement on demand” that shuts down two cylinders when they are not needed, which makes the powertrain roughly 7 percent more efficient.
“The greatest fuel consumption advantage is in the low to moderate engine load range. In this way we were able to reduce [combined] fuel consumption to 5.5 liters per 100km, which corresponds to 127 grams of CO2 per kilometer,” Michael Zeilinger, responsible for the Q3’s technical project management, told reporters at a press event here this week.
The previous CO2 low for the engine was 137g/km.
Zeilinger added that Audi “completely revamped all the engines to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 17 percent.”
The Q3 also features a new three-dimensional, sculpted single-frame grille, optional torque vectoring for better traction and standard xenon headlights.

The refreshed Audi Q3's starting price in Germany will rise to 29,600 euros from 28,900 euros. Audi says part of the increase is because the revised car has more standard content than its predecessor.



Starting price: 29,600 euros
The revised Q3 will start at 29,600 euros in Germany for the front-wheel-drive 1.4-liter TFSI version and rise to 56,600 euros for the top-of-the-line all-wheel-drive RS Q3. The current base-level Q3, which has less standard content than its successor, starts at 28,900 euros.
Audi says the Q3 is aimed at both young couples as well as so-called “best-agers” - customers over 50 years old - looking for the easy entry offered by the crossover’s higher seating position.
Because of brisk sales, Seat’s otherwise-underutilized Martorell plant has already built 106,000 units in each of the past two years – the maximum number of Q3s it can manufacture. Audi also has produced the Q3 in Changchun since 2013 to serve the Chinese market and will add output of the crossover to its new Brazil factory after the A3 starts rolling off the assembly line there next year.
30-hp increase
The premium carmaker is also refreshing the RS Q3, Audi’s first Q model developed by its own in-house tuner, Quattro GmbH. The vehicle comes with a 2.5 liter TFSI powerplant that was also given to the TT RS coupe, and uses the same five-cylinder configuration as the original Quattro rally car.
It comes with 340 hp and 450 newton meters of torque, in both cases 30 more than the predecessor model, and is capable of pushing the crossover from 0 to 100kph in 4.8 seconds, while its certified fuel consumption drops by nearly a half liter to 8.4 liters per 100km.
While currently the smallest SUV in Audi’s model range, the Q3 will surrender that title to the upcoming entry-level Q1, which will be built in Ingolstadt starting in 2016, replacing production of the Q5 that is set to move to the automaker’s new plant in Mexico.

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