Report: Audi A3 sedan being developed for U.S. only

Filed under: Sedan, Audi

Audi A3 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Europeans go crazy for the Volkwagen Golf, but not so much for the Jetta. Like, not crazy at all. Americans, on the other hand, will give props to a hatchback, but what we really love is ~~big butts and we cannot lie~~ a trunk in which to put our junk. According to Inside Line, Audi has decided to stop letting its A3 hatchback be a whipping boy while trying to sway American tastes and instead it has committed to bringing us an A3 sedan.

The small sedan is already in the development pipeline and will arrive in the U.S. – its only intended market – in 2012. It is reportedly going be the size of the first-generation Audi A4, the B5 model. That sedan was 178 inches long and 68.2 inches wide, whereas the current A3 hatch is 169 inches long and 69.5 inches wide.

The question is whether the A3 only needs a trunk in order to lure more buyers. The current hatch starts at $27,270. If the Golf and Jetta are taken as examples, there is just $135 difference between the two cars, the Jetta being more expensive. This plan could theoretically work if the A3 sedan is similarly close to the hatch, but somewhere along the way we feel like it will need to shed its image as a gussied-up Golf for sales to really fly.

Gallery: 2009 Audi A3