AUDI Q3

Big-selling small SUV has a new look. Does it have a new purpose too?

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It’s a sign of the times how important SUVs have become to the business of German premium car maker Audi.

Among all of its model lines, its Q-badged cars now have the most global success. And, now entering its third model generation, the little Q3 has become one of its most strategically important.

Only the Q5 and A6 commercially outperformed this car in 2024. In 2026, as this third-generation version spreads its wings and registers its first full calendar year of sales, it could well turn out to be the most popular Audi of them all. The production lines at Ingolstadt are, in fact, all teed up to provide extra capacity over and above the circa-250,000 annual volume that the car's longstanding base at Gyor, Hungary, can churn out.

The Q3 comes to us bigger than ever, and is the first car in its line to pass 4.5m in length. It retains a range of engines broad enough to include four-cylinder petrol and diesels units, as well as a plugin hybrid, and offers both default front-wheel drive and Audi-heartland Quattro all-wheel drive. Electric model aside, that’s the full house.

It’s the product of a recently redefined Audi design language, too, and brings new and improved suspension and powertrain technology, and a reappraised secondary control layout replete with newfangled indicator stalks.

The stops have been pulled out here: Audi is betting large on small. Stand by to find out exactly what it is so confident about.

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

★★★★☆

PROS Looks fresh and different, but still like a Q3; a good choice of engines and powertrains

CONS There's little that’s innovative about the tech