AUDI A3 SPORTBACK 40 TFSIe

Perennially popular premium hatchback returns in plug-in hybrid form

- STEVE CROPLEY

The A3 is the Audi most British buyers want, if you check the latest sales figures, so a suite of recent mid-life improvements should only add to its popularity. Audi offers more than a dozen different models here, but one in five cars it sells is an A3.

Late last year Audi reintroduced a plug-in hybrid model in Germany, right-hand-drive versions of which are now available here. The whole A3 range is improved in many detail ways, with better-quality interior trim, modernised grille and lights and tweaks to the standard equipment. But the really big deal occurs in the PHEV, whose electric-only range is doubled to between 80 and 87 miles, depending on which of three trim levels you choose. Our test car was a Black Edition, the best-looking version with the nattiest wheels and smallest - but still generous - battery range.