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Audi A3 vs Volkswagen Golf

What's the difference?

VS
Audi A3
Audi A3

$50,600 - $60,200

2025 price

Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Golf

$38,690 - $72,490

2025 price

Summary

2025 Audi A3
2025 Volkswagen Golf
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 4, 1.5L

Turbo 4, 1.4L
Fuel Type
-

-
Fuel Efficiency
5.3L/100km (combined)

6.3L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Ride is a bit stiff
  • Back seat is tight
  • Lacks some modern features

  • Getting pricey
  • Rear knee-room a bit tight
  • No manual transmission option
2025 Audi A3 Summary

Can a hatchback still be a fun and fashionable way to get around when the SUV has become such a status trend?

The facelifted Audi A3 certainly makes a case for it.

The refreshed 2025 A3 is, as Audi puts it, more competitive than before when it comes to not only value but also, you might agree, style.

Last year, before the update even arrived, the A3 sold almost as well as its Volkswagen Golf corporate sibling. In fact, it’s Audi’s third most popular model behind the Q3 and Q5 SUVs.

It’s also third in its segment of ‘Small cars under $40,000’, behind only the MG4 electric car and, you guessed it, the VW Golf.

As such, it also outsells its actual closest rivals the BMW 1 Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class, both of which are close to the A3 on price.

Now that it’s been given a bit more razzle dazzle, let’s see if the A3 can keep that momentum going.

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2025 Volkswagen Golf Summary

While we all mumble about the SUV taking over the passenger car world, a quick glance over at Volkswagen proves the traditional hatchback is still a viable train of thought.

Of course, with the original 1970s Golf, VW more or less invented the modern hatch, but even so, its decision to stick with the concept speaks volumes when many other makers are moving to an SUV-only (or, at least, SUV-dominated) stance.

So, any new or even facelifted VW Golf is big news, and an important model that VW can’t afford to have fail.

What we’re not seeing with the VW Golf yet is any form of hybridisation, let alone, full electrification, despite the Golf being available in EV form in Europe for some years now. At which point the question becomes one of whether Volkswagen is giving he Golf concept the best chance of survival. As in, can a conventionally powered, conventionally packaged hatchback still do the business in 2025. I mean, evolution is one thing, but – sticking with the metaphor - extinction has always been a possibility, too.

 

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Deep dive comparison

2025 Audi A3 2025 Volkswagen Golf

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