David R

I read below about Vw, Seat etc

VAG beleives that VW= sensible family transport, SEAT= Sporty and Audi= luxury - i guess that is why the bloody Leon has 6 gears and 180bhp as standard.

Unhappy

David

Wando

'S' series and TT go against this, Cupra should have 225hp to fit in!

IJ

No way I am ever going to compare A3 to anything lesser. I have not driven Leon, I have driven GTI Golf number of times for more than one day and it is not as good as A3 in any respect. A3 is a very unique car. I think owners will ultimately get rewarded through quality and rareness factors which will only begin to grace this car with its age (think old M3 during 80s). A3 also has looks and speed which will make it reign for years to come.
IJ
99A31.8T(190bhp)

Wando

Very true ideally I would like to get one of the last ones made, many people have said that after the facelift Audi will stop making the A3 to go along with current VAG plans, but I don't think this will happen as they compete directly with merc and bmw who also make compact luxury cars(supposedly).It all depends what the A3 is replaced with!

sunstar

You should see all the options available for the 'bloody' Leon...they cost less than half as in the A3 <I>(Raintronic, Climatronic, anti-dazzle mirror). </I>

<FONT COLOR="BLUE">I predict A3 sales in Europe will be dropping sharply...</FONT>

<B><FONT COLOR="RED">And at Seat, someone seems to be knowing what people need: You get a cup holder in the middle console and a 12V power socket in the boot (for your cooling box). Wheee!</FONT></B>

<U>sunstar '00 A3 1.8T silver</U> showing off his HTML knowledge

Wando

Show off! come on tell us how you did it

AL B

I think you are right with their thinking.

But why are they adopting this strategy? Are VAG going to throw away decades of Audi motorsport heritage, and try to recreate it with SEAT? I hope not. If they do, I think they will fail. Don't get me wrong SEAT have performed brilliantly in world rallying, but no where near the revolutionarly heights that Audi achieved with the quattro.

Audi should stand for: top-performance (I mean group topping performance), luxury, style and class.

Some of the posts below mentioned the demise of the A3. I must admit, it is hard to see were it fits in, in VAG's vision. Yet, as it was pointed out, it lines up with BMW's 318ti Compact. But the A2 meets the A-Class head on. Now if BMW scrap the 318 Compact....maybe Audi will scrap the A3.

In terms of the Leon, don't forget it pisses on the Golf 1.8T Gti as well - not just us guys. So that poses the question: will VAG ditch the VW sporting models, if SEAT is the sporting brand? I doubt it. *THE* Gti ditched, no way!

So maybe they *will* keep the A3, as the entry-level, sporty Audi. I hope they do. But likewise, if they don't, we could be sitting on something close to a classic. It certainly is in terms of looks and style - IMO.

Finally, re: platforms etc., you can always ask yourself this: "What badge would you rather be looking at on your steering wheel? Skoda, Seat, VW, or Audi"

The answer for me, will always be Audi.

Sorry about the rambling.

AL

AL B

I agree with John...that's just not fair!

David R

Only VAG - and lets face it, huge companies like VAG have money on their mind and little else. If they can produce 3-4 brands with different places in a similar marketplace then what do they care if one loses out to another. I'm sure that Bernt Piesh(whatever) doesn't lose sleep at night regarding Audi becoming one thing and Seat another as he owns the whole bloody lot. BMW really is THE only rival when we talk about quality cars away from the Ford, Vauxhall brands etc and now VAG have 4 brands to attack it. Makes very good financial sense. Really, it is a shame that it pisses off the enthusiasts like us - in truth, I bet most VW/Skoda/Seat buyers (i.e. the 1.6 and SDi brigade) neither know nor care about platform sharing and the simlarity between other models. Even if they did, they have saved money by getting the cheaper version.

I can cope with the Golf as it is very obviously different to the A3, the Leon, however has crossed the preverbial fine line!

Again though, in the eyes of VAG, they do not care if we all ditch Audi and buy Seat - we cannot win.

David

AL B

Too true.