Four from four

The Audi A3 Sportback has taken its fourth win in the coveted golden Steering Wheel awards, meaning each generation of the brand’s premium compact model has taken the top award.

Since its inception in 1976, the ‘Golden Steering Wheel’ has been recognised as one of Europe's most prestigious car awards, the readers of Auto Bild Magazine and the Bild am Sonntag newspaper first voted for their favourite models across eight separate capategories before a filed of expert judges put the nominees through their paces to arrive at winners in each category.

This year, a field of 63 new models across the eight classes was assembled from the initial voting, with the three models with the most votes in the readers’ poll qualifying for the finals. The final 24 vehicles were track tested late last month by a jury consisting of international experts including former racing drivers Hans-Joachim Stuck and Joachim Winkelhock, uncle of Audi World driver, Markus Winkelhock.

At the end of the exhaustive testing, the fourth generation Audi A3 Sportback was the clear winner in the Compact Class, repeating the victories achieved by each successive generation of the model – starting in 1996, and running through to the present. 

Indeed the original Audi A3 model was instrumental in creating the premium compact class back in the mid-1980s, with its mix of compact convenience seamlessly welded with the luxury appointment and technology of much larger models.

That technological edge has remained a key factor in each successive A3 Sportback, along with superb driving dynamics and styling. The current iteration of this multi-awarding winning model also includes new up-cycling in the form of new seat upholstery produced from recycled PET bottles, keeping the A3 Sportback very much at the forefront of innovation.

“We have continued the success story of our compact model this year with the fourth generation of the Audi A3 Sportback. The ‘Golden Steering Wheel’ award represents a strong team performance that we are proud of,” Audi CEO Markus Duesmann said of this latest Golden Steering Wheel. 

The award is the 31st for Audi, making the brand one of the most successful in the award’s illustrious history. Last year, the all-electric Audi e-tron took top honours in the ‘Large SUV’ class, judged against all vehicles in the large SUV segment regardless of drive system.