Family tree

With the new A3 Sportback and A3 Sedan models now revealed, take a look back at some of the incarnations that have defined the compact luxury class from the very beginning.

29 April, 2020

Nearly 25 years after the first Audi A3 model created the compact luxury class, the A3 name – in all its incarnations, continues to set the standard. Now, with new Sportback and Sedan models revealed to the world, it’s a good time to take a brief look back at the family that has continued to push the envelope in the very class it created.

From the original three-door model that started it all, to the larger Sportback that remains to this day, right through elegant compact Cabriolet models, a Sedan variant recently revealed in its second-generation and high-performance additions in the form of S and RS models.

So intrinsically different in many ways and yet all so obviously members of the same family.

Complete control

Green Hell record

Dust covers come off the new Audi A3

First glimpse of S3 prototype