Generation history
Audi A3 generations and next redesign.
The Audi A3 has been through 3 generations, starting in 1996, 2003 and 2012. The gaps were 7, 9 years, an average of 8.0. The pace has been steady. The current generation began in 2012. On that cadence the next full redesign points to 2019 through 2021, centered on 2020. This is a projection. It comes from the model's own past redesign years, not from the manufacturer. A mid-cycle refresh usually lands in between. Public records describe the current generation this way: The vehicle was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show and went on sale in Europe in September 2012. Specifications, trims and the NHTSA safety record are on the Audi A3 model page.
Every generation
The Audi A3, generation by generation.
| Generation | Code | Years | What changed |
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| First generation | Typ 8L | 1996–2003 | Audi announced the first generation A3 (Typ 8L) in June 1995. |
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| Second generation | Typ 8P | 2003–2012 | At the 2003 Geneva Motor Show, Audi launched the second generation of the A3, the Typ 8P, designed by Gary Telaak during 2000 (however, the final design was frozen in 2001). |
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| Third generation | Typ 8V | 2012–present | The vehicle was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show and went on sale in Europe in September 2012. |
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The Audi A3 spent 8.0 years per generation on average. The current one is 14 years old. Treat 2019 to 2021 as a range, not a date.
Source: Audi A3 (Wikipedia). The estimate is our arithmetic on those start years.
Open the Audi A3 model page for specifications, trims, safety record and answers.
In more detail
What each Audi A3 generation changed.
First generation, 1996 to 2003
Audi announced the first generation A3 (Typ 8L) in June 1995. The model was launched for the European market in September 1996 and marked Audi's return to small cars after 19 years, following the demise of the Audi 50 in 1978. The A3 was the first Volkswagen Group model to use the PQ34 (or "A4") platform, bearing close resemblance to the Volkswagen Golf Mk4, which arrived a year later. Within three years of the A3's launch, the PQ34 platform was utilised by seven different vehicles.
Second generation, 2003 to 2012
At the 2003 Geneva Motor Show, Audi launched the second generation of the A3, the Typ 8P, designed by Gary Telaak during 2000 (however, the final design was frozen in 2001). Originally launched only as a three-door hatchback with four-cylinder engines, it featured a new automobile platform (the PQ35 platform), a redesigned and more spacious interior, new petrol engines with Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI), and standard six-speed manual gearboxes (except on the base 1.6 petrol and 1.9 diesel).
Third generation, 2012 to today
The vehicle was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show and went on sale in Europe in September 2012. First vehicle using the flexible modular Volkswagen Group MQB platform, the third generation is available as a three-door hatchback, a five-door "Sportback", a four-door saloon to directly rival the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, and a two-door Cabriolet. The front suspension is a MacPherson strut set-up while the rear utilises torsion bar suspension (models with less than 150 PS) or multi-link rear suspension (models with 150 PS or more).
Generation notes adapted from Audi A3 (Wikipedia).
Today's Audi A3
What the current generation is, and how it has held up.
Audi A3 at a glance
- Production
- 1996–present
- Class
- Small family car (C)
- Body style
- 3 or 5-door hatchback, 4-door saloon
- Layout
- Front-engine, front-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive (quattro)
Owners filed 5 complaints with NHTSA for the 2025 Audi A3, most often about unknown or other (3), service brakes (1), forward collision avoidance (1).