This is the new Audi A3, leaked on the same day as its northern competition, the 2013 Volvo V40. Get a look at its clean lines and orange interior before all your pre-med buddies see them in the dealership.
For the engineering nerds out there, this A3 was designed on VW's all-encompassing Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform. It's what's under the upcoming seventh-generation VW Golf and just about everything other car VW is going to be building in a few years.
That means that under the skin, your executive A3 will be just about the same as some faraway Skoda panel van delivering sausages in Prague.
Of course you won't care because you'll be sitting in leather-lined comfort, ideally with orange seat inserts. You'll also be drawing envious glances from passers-by, what with the A3's sharp new looks and angry headlights.
As with any new German car, there are plenty of tech goodies to gush about. Autocar reports that this new A3 gets a head-up display, a slimmer, revised infotainment system and an electric handbrake. CarScoop adds that it will debut with a direct-injection 1.4-liter turbo four with cylinder deactivation, at least for the Europeans.
Upcoming variants will include a five-door hatch, a convertible and a four-door sedan. We'll get more info when the A3 debuts two weeks from now at the Geneva Motor Show.