The ideal antidote to the winter blues – the new Audi A3 Cabriolet – can be administered by Audi Centres from this week as the brand’s first premium compact class ‘open top’ opens for order in standard, Sport and S line trim with OTR prices ranging from £20,750 to £27,060. Deliveries will begin in May.

The guiding principle behind the latest Audi soft-top was the achievement of the best possible balance between the essential fun factor of a roadster and the refinement and day-to-day usability of a fixed roof premium class car. As a result, the A3 Cabriolet not only converts to topless mode and back extraordinarily rapidly, but also genuinely accommodates four passengers without ruling out impressive luggage capacity that is expandable thanks to the standard split/fold rear seat.

The majority of the strong and responsive TFSI petrol and TDI diesel engines powering the A3 and A3 Sportback are carried over to the new Cabriolet, including the 160PS 1.8 TFSI petrol, the 200PS 2.0 TFSI petrol, the 105PS 1.9 TDI and the 2.0 TDI with common rail piezo fuel injection, developing 140PS. These are combined with either a five or six-speed manual gearbox, depending on version, or the option, for all models bar the 1.9 TDI, of the acclaimed S tronic twin-clutch transmission.

Standard versions of the A3 Cabriolet will boast a generous equipment list that includes 16-inch alloy wheels, air conditioning, powered windows and mirrors, a Chorus radio with single CD drive and semi-automatic hood operation – the hood is attached to and released from the windscreen rail manually but retracts and raises at the touch of a button.

On top of this, the Sport specification, costing an additional £1,850, combines features such as larger 17-inch alloy wheels, sports suspension and sports seats with fully automatic hood operation, which adds automated ‘hands-free’ detachment from, and attachment to, the windscreen rail, plus a wind deflector. The hood also incorporates additional acoustic insulation, maximising the potential for enjoyment of the upgraded Concert radio.

True to the formula that elsewhere in the Audi range already appeals to more UK customers than any other, the new S line specification for the A3 Cabriolet supplements the Sport equipment list externally with larger 18-inch 7 twin-spoke alloy wheels and S line body styling including exclusive front and rear bumper design. Inside, it adds extras such as leather and Sprint cloth combination upholstery embossed with the S line insignia, an S line multifunction sports steering wheel with paddle shift controls (where automatic transmission is specified), a perforated leather gear knob and matt brushed aluminium inlays. S line specification carries a premium of £1,550 over the price of a Sport model.

Open-air motoring in just 9 seconds The hood incorporates a large, heated glass rear window, and in Sport and S line versions with fully automatic operation, can be lowered in just 9 seconds or raised in 11 seconds at speeds of up to 19mph. At 85mph, the A3 Cabriolet Sport and A3 Cabriolet S line with their extra acoustic insulation run their fixed-roof, A3 three-door counterparts impressively close for cabin refinement, registering an increase in cabin noise of just 1dB (A).

When lowered, the hood is folded up into a Z-pattern which takes up a minimum amount of space. The header – a rigid section at the roof’s front edge – comes to rest on top, flush with the body. The folded hood is set down in a compact sheet steel compartment that is separate from the boot and therefore doesn’t impair luggage capacity.

Because the luggage space is unaffected by the retracted hood, it has not been necessary to move the rear bench seat further forward. This leaves ample legroom at the rear, thanks in part to the generous wheelbase of 2,578 millimetres. The split/folding rear seat back - a standard feature across the range – boosts load capacity from an already usefully accommodating 260 litres to a maximum of 674 litres.

The relatively light roof also ensures that the A3 Cabriolet handles with the same impressive agility that has been a key factor in the consistent popularity of the A3 range since its 2003 launch. Sophisticated McPherson strut front and four-link rear suspension and electromechanical power steering guarantee excellent response and a compliant ride in standard models, while Sports suspension lowered by 15mm is reserved exclusively for Sport and S line versions, giving an even greater degree of tautness and precision.

Featured in BusinessCar 25 July, 2007

Six months into the year and Ford continues to dominate both the list of best-selling fleet makers and cars. However, look down a little and you’ll see that every Audi model is on the march, writes Paul Barker
The status quo has been maintained at the top of the overall sales chart in the first half of 2007 as far business car registrations are concerned, but there has been a switch in leadership of the premium brand sector.
The first half of this year has seen a 2.8% rise in like-for-like fleet registrations, to a total of 617,286 units. Overall, new car registrations are running at 2.0%?up for the first six months of the year, and fleet is once again outperforming retail (which is up 1.4%).

Ford again tops the list of fleet car makers, enjoying an advantage of more than 5500 registrations over arch rival Vauxhall. The rest of the top five mirrors the hierarchy at the end of 2006 – VW, Peugeot and Renault in that order. VW, however, has had a good first half of the year to put some distance between itself and its rivals, while both French brands are down on 2006 to leave them peering nervously over their shoulders at Audi, which has seen amazing growth so far this year. A 37.5% increase in sales compared with the first six months of 2006 has seen it overhaul both Toyota and, more satisfyingly for the German premium brand, BMW, which has surprisingly suffered a 10.4% reduction in registrations.

Audi’s success has also seen the A4 outsell the BMW 3-series to become fleet’s top compact exec model, taking it to the verge of the overall fleet top 10, while the A6 has passed the 5-series to become the top-selling fleet executive model (see table page 17). Every Audi is up year-on-year, with the Q7 coming from a standing start this year to be the second best-selling large 4×4 behind the Land Rover Discovery. BMW meanwhile has suffered from a slow build-up after the new X5 was launched a couple of months ago, while the X3 has disappeared completely, dropping from position 65 at the close of 2006 to now rank 118 in the top sellers list thanks to a 66.1% fall in registrations.
New Kia boss Paul Philpott has been true to his word and pulled the Korean brand out of the low-profit fleet business. A drop of four places to 20th in our chart of business car brands due to a 41.8% plunge is evidence of that, with the baby Picanto the obvious fall guy, falling outside the top 100 from its place just inside the top 50 at the end of last year. The good news, though, is that the new Ceed lower medium hatchback has already broken into the top 100 (at 97).
Nissan’s recovery after a couple of years with little attractive product seems to be well underway. The Note has passed the Vauxhall Meriva to lead the supermini-MPV category (though how much of that was Mobility business is open to question) while the Qashqai is also selling well, and is comfortably inside the top 50 despite only being launched this spring.

Among the top 100 models the Focus, Astra, Fiesta and Mondeo lock out the top four once again, with Peugeot’s new 207 being the only car outside of Ford, Vauxhall and VW to make the top 10.
Further down, Citroen’s C4 has had an eyebrow-raisingly good half-year for a car approaching middle age, while newcomers such as the Ford S-max and Toyota Auris have joined the 207 in establishing themselves in the top 50.

Diesel sales

Fleet diesel registrations are up 7.3% in the first six months of the year, and have accounted for 46.0% of new fleet cars, two percentage points up at the same time in 2006. Audi’s good run is, unsurprisingly, mirrored in the diesel chart (right), grabbing fourth place above BMW and Peugeot, while Renault slipped behind Toyota to eighth and Nissan comes into the top 20 at the expense of ChryslerJeep.

Of all the market segments (left), the lower medium sector is again the dominant one, accounting for 28.7% of fleet registrations. The upper medium sector was down 3.6% in the first half of 2007 and its market share dropped 1.4% to 20.8%, at least in part due to the Mondeo, the biggest player in the segment, being in changeover from old to new. Superminis and Mini-MPVs come next, with supermini-MPVs grabbing fifth place from small 4×4s thanks almost entirely to the popularity of Nissan’s new Note.

SALES FIGURES: Audi leapfrogs arch rival BMW to become premium top dog

Top 20 diesel car manufacturers

Top 5 upper mediums

Top 5 large 4×4 cars