The Audi A3 sedan, which is slated to arrive in our showrooms sometime this year, has just earned top honours in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the US crash test. The IIHS rated the Audi A3 compact sedan as Top Safety Pick+.

“The Top Safety Pick+ award for the A3 sedan impressively illustrates the importance Audi attaches to the issue of safety,” said Joachim Scheef, head of vehicle safety development at Audi AG.

The IIHS awarded the Audi A3 sedan the top score of 'good' in all crash disciplines rated. It also gave the A3 an 'advanced' rating for Audi pre-sense front. The system informs the driver when the safety interval to the vehicle ahead becomes too small. In critical situations, the electronic assistant warns the driver and initiates automatic emergency braking, if necessary. That reduces the speed at impact or, in the best case, helps to prevent an accident entirely.

Audi revealed the A3 sedan in India at the Auto Expo in February. While other luxury carmakers in India like Mercedes-Benz and BMW have lowered the entry-point of their line-ups with luxury hatchbacks, Audi holds on to the belief that sedans still command more interest, especially in the luxury segment and has decided to introduce the baby sedan here this year.

The A3 sedan, as we saw at the Expo, is every bit an Audi in terms of fit and finish and quality levels but is not very roomy on the inside owing to its compact dimensions. When launched, it will come with the option of a 1.8-litre turbo-petrol and a 2.0-litre diesel engine and all versions will be offered as front-wheel-drive models.