Auto Express 1612

WE’VE expected it for a while, but the news of JLR CEO Sir Ralf Speth’s retirement is still a seismic event in the UK car industry. He sits at the top of a company that employs around 40,000 people globally, of which close to 35,000 are in the UK. Without his leadership, Land Rover and Jaguar wouldn’t be what they are today: the envy of other car makers around the world. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Speth (above), though. Incredible highs, with the launch of some brilliant new cars (including four Auto Express Car of the Year Awards during his tenure) and, more recently, some seriously difficult times. He leaves the company in a much better place than when he became CEO in 2010, but there’s still much to…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods ● We join engineers developing next-generation Audi A3 ● Hot S3 will be offered at launch with 306bhp and new tech THE Audi A3 is possibly preparing for the fight of its life, as it enters its fourth generation and 24th year. That’s because even regular compact family hatchbacks have been on a drive to become ever more premium in recent years. So the A3 has to work harder than ever to carve out a niche beyond just being a more upmarket alternative to the mechanically similar Volkswagen Golf. The A3 will make its full debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, but before all is revealed, Auto Express has been granted a sneak preview of this big 2020 arrival. The Mk4 A3 is still based on…

“IN my opinion, there are some very important new developments for the chassis of the new S3. All the systems work together, and the new adaptive damping gives the driver the opportunity to spread the properties of the car in a wider range than before.” So says Gunnar Schultz (above left), a member of a large team of development engineers. He adds that the regular A3 is destined to take on some of the sporty characteristics of the S3, but these mainstream, everyday versions of the new model will not do this at the expense of comfort requirements. “We differentiate the Audi cars from other MQB models by having our own chassis application, steering application and developing our own tyres so the whole chassis is different,” he says. Schultz focuses…

MK1: 1996-2003 Audi’s first Golf rival was launched as a three-door specifically to make it seem more glamorous than its sister car. A five-door version and the rapid S3 arrived in 1999. MK2: 2003-2013 Second A3 brought in an expanded range. Two-door A3 Cabriolet slotted in alongside the three- and five-door versions, while the hot five-cylinder RS3 model appeared, too. MK3: 2012-2020 Yet more bodystyles for the third A3, with a saloon joining the line-up to sit below the A4 in Audi’s range. Dwindling three-door sales make this the last A3 to be offered in this form.…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy AUDI is set to axe the A3 Cabriolet from its range when the fourth generation of the family hatchback arrives, Auto Express has learned. The three-door hatchback version of the A3 is being dropped altogether, due to falling sales. And this, coupled with a desire to simplify production and concerns about increased complexity, cost and weight, has prompted Audi to also cull the Cabriolet (the company’s entry-level drop-top) from the range. Audi’s product marketing chief Fermín Soneira Santos declined to confirm that the A3 Cabrio would be axed, but he told us that the industry in general was looking very hard at the viability of open-topped models. “Probably cabrios are going to become under pressure in the near future; it’s not only an Audi thing,” he said. “At…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy ● Performance division Gazoo Racing to produce hot Corolla, C-HR ● Power will come from petrol turbo triple seen in GR Yaris TOYOTA’S Gazoo Racing division is lining up a product blitz over the next three years. And it could see the number of performance models in the Japanese brand’s line-up doubling between now and 2023. Hot versions of the Corolla hatchback and C-HR crossover are among the projects under consideration, as the skunkworks sports division, created 13 years ago by current Toyota president Akio Toyoda, tries to build the brand’s reputation for fun-driving cars. The key to Gazoo Racing’s plans is the new three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that features in the recently launched GR Yaris. Codenamed G16E-GTS, the motor is the world’s most powerful three-cylinder unit, with…