The new Audi A3 Sportback Interior Design

Black-panel look on the instrument panel and center console, stylish contrasting stitching, striking door openers, and a new shifter design - the interior of the A3 Sportback is sporty and of high quality. Precise horizontal lines and surfaces with a clear design emphasize the width of the cockpit. This is also achieved by the striking air vent door strip on the passenger side and the curved trim strip below. On the driver's side, the air vents form an impressive unit with the cover of the instrument cluster. The elements are merged here, which underlines the puristic design.

Many of the design motifs make logical reference to each other and the exterior. Two examples: The hockey stick shape of the handles for opening the door are reminiscent of the headlights and rear lights. With their flat, pentagonal shape, the air vent doors on the driver's side take on the motif of the air inlets on the front end.

The cockpit is totally focused on the driver. It uses familiar elements from the brand's full-size class models and is equipped with a 10.1-inch touch display as standard. The screen is embedded in a trapezoidal black panel trim that takes up the center area of the instrument panel. When it is switched off, the display is hardly noticeable. It is inclined slightly toward the driver, as is the newly developed control unit for climate control located below. The black-panel surface is continued to the left of the steering wheel and further highlights the width of the cockpit.

The design of the center tunnel console is also particularly ergonomic. There is an innovative shifter integrated in its black-panel surface that offers the driver a completely new operating experience: Using shift-by-wire technology, the compact controller can be pushed and pulled to control the basic functions of the seven-speed S tronic. Next to it is a further innovation: A round, sensory volume control that reacts to circular finger movements. A large stowage compartment contains the inductive charging area of the Audi phone box and two USB connections.