Inquire with the manufacturer of each of the 5-door European imports you see here and you likely won’t find the other on either company’s list of intended competitors. The Swedes at Volvo will tell you the V50 competes one class up with the Audi A4 Avant, while the Germans over at Audi will tell you the A3 squares off against the MINI Cooper. Nevertheless, like star-crossed mates of Romeo and Juliet caliber, these two cars are drawn together no matter what the Montagues or Capulets… er… Audi or Volvo might suggest.
Like the leading characters of the Shakespearian classic, both of these
cars are young and not given to typical brand tradition. Both break through the accepted norms to expand their respective brand houses beyond the established marque paradigms.
Ask Audi and you’ll likely get the message that the A3 is pitched at the MINI. While it may well get cross-shopped by folks looking at the little Brit, boxing it in as purely a lifestyle vehicle really misses half of the A3’s personality. While the MINI is somewhat cramped and go-kart like, the Audi has both the dimensions and demeanor of a larger
car. In fact, the A3’s footprint is much the same as the original B5 A4 Avant, while its interior is on par with its larger-brother the current B7 generation A4. A go-kart like the MINI it is not, but the A3 gives up little in the way of sportiness in its quest for a more comfortable ride.
While the Audi clan would over-emphasize the lifestyle side of the A3, the house of Volvo pushes its youngest model toward luxury. Volvo would say that the V50 squares against traditional entry-level luxury wagons like the BMW 3 Series. However, given that the V50 shares its underpinnings with small cars like the Mazda3 and the European Ford Focus, it is unlikely this pairing would succeed.
