Special S Line Plus editions add value to Audi A3

AUDI Australia has launched a limited-edition ‘S Line Plus’ package for mainstream variants of its A3 Sportback, sedan and convertible range that is claimed to include up to $11,000 of extra value in return for price premiums of between $2500 and $2600 over the standard equivalent.

Every S Line Plus edition features the Audi ‘virtual cockpit’ digital instrument panel, an upgraded multimedia system with smartphone interface, keyless entry and start, autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, all-round parking sensors and a reversing camera.

As the name suggests, the S Line sports body kit is also standard, along with 18-inch alloy wheels that differ in design between the three body styles.

Higher-powered 40 TFSI variants also receive heated front seats with electric adjustment including lumbar support, LED headlights and tail-lights, and wireless smartphone charging.

Sedans with the 40 TFSI engine also get a flat-bottomed steering wheel and DAB+ digital radio.

These S Line Plus editions could be regarded as a swansong for the third-generation A3 that was unveiled in 2012, first as a three-door hatch that never made it to Australia and then as the five-door Sportback, followed by the sedan and convertible in 2013.

A fourth-generation A3 is expected to be unveiled at the Geneva motor show in Sportback form next March.

Sales of the A3 Sportback and sedan in Australia are down 20.1 per cent so far this year, with 2541 units reported. The convertible has slowed 4.4 per cent, on 194 units. Overall, Audi is down 25.3 per cent over last year, on 10,922 units year-to-date following an 11.8 per cent decline in 2018.

2019 Audi A3 S Line Plus pricing*

*Excludes on-road costs