Audi A3 likely to be launched during third quarter in India

India will soon get the Audi's entry-level luxury saloon - the A3, which has recently grabbed the 2014 World Car of the Year Award. The A3 will be the first car to enter the affordable luxury sedan segment in India, which will later be joined by Mercedes' CLA class. Our sources reveal that the car will be rolled out in August 2014.

The new A3 will be assembled locally at its production unit in Aurangabad. The base trim of the new A3 line-up will miss out on some important features such as LED headlamps and leather seat upholstery. However, the top-end variant is likely to offer more features such as premium leather upholstery, LED headlamps etc. The A3 looks largely similar to its cabriolet sibling, but manages to look different. The base and mid-level variants are expected to be assembled with five-spoke alloy wheels, while the top-end variant might get nine-spoke alloy wheels.

The new A3 will be available with a 1.8-litre TFSI petrol and a 2.0-litre diesel engine options. The diesel unit is competent to churn out a peak power output of 150bhp and a healthy torque of 320Nm. A six-speed manual gearbox and an S-tronic dual-clutch transmission will be on offer.