| abstract | - The Audi Q3 is an automobile by Audi AG of Germany that is expected to debut commercially in 2011. The five-door coupe crossover will be aimed as more of a lifestyle/sports car, rather than for the family/off-road market its larger Q5 & Q7 siblings aim for. The Q3 will slot above the proposed Audi Q1. The car will use the Volkswagen Group A5 (PQ35) platform of the Volkswagen Golf Mk5, the same as the Volkswagen Tiguan/SEAT Tribu small SUVs. It will join the similarly-sized but competitive BMW X1 in the same model year for launch, and will be similar to the 2009-10 launch of the Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class and Audi Q5 during the same model year. The car will combine a transverse engine layout with flexible steering and suspension offers. The Q3 will borrow many Golf Mk5, or possibly Golf Mk6, components, such as a Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG) dual clutch transmission and a kW (hp) 2.0 FSI turbo engine featured in the current Golf GTI. The car should also feature a kW (hp) 3.0 turbo-diesel V6 & a kW (hp) 3.6 FSI V6 for the flagship, the Q3S. While the car should be available in both front-wheel drive (FWD), and quattro "on-demand" four-wheel drive variants, there will be no height-adjustable suspension, lockable differentials or low-range gearing. Instead, the car will feature larger wheels and a sports suspension. The car has been approved due to the declining sales large SUVs are currently experiencing, and the public's healthier appetite for smaller crossovers. The company is targeting niche markets to reach its ambitious sales targets, and the Q3 is part of these plans. The production name will undergo change from "Q3" to another name as an agreement with carmaker Infiniti stipulates. Various Audi concept cars have debuted with the name "Cross Coupe" and this name is a possibility for the production Q3. Audi has announced it will start producing the Q3 in Martorell (near Barcelona, Spain), a plant owned by SEAT, Volkswagen Group's Spanish subsidiary. The first cars are expected to roll out of the production lines in July 2011 and the decision to produce the Q3 there shall give Audi the ability to produce up to 80,000 units per year. The cost of moving to this plant for production will cost approximately €300 million .
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