ATL Automotive unveiled the new Audi Q3 at a media luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, St Andrew, on Tuesday.

The 2013 Audi Q3 is ideal for young professionals and persons with an active lifestyle. It also adds more ammunition to ATL Automotive’s vision of being the number one premium brand in Jamaica by 2018.

“It’s very performance oriented,” Anthony Desnoes, Audi brand manager, told Auto. He said that even though the new Audi Q3 is the smallest in ‘Q family’ of SUVs, it boasts the larger Q5’s engine.

Its compact lightweight frame makes the 211-bhp, turbocharged 4-cylinder engine rockets the vehicle to 100kph under seven seconds.

With a seven-speed Electronic Double-Clutch gearbox and permanent all-wheel drive, there should be no doubt about the vehicle’s on/off-road capabilities.

Brian Stevenson, managing director of ATL Autohaus, had high praises for the Q3.

“I drove it on a track during its Caribbean launch in Costa Rica recently. It’s a wonderful machine. Like all Audi vehicles, once you get behind the wheel you’ll fall in love.”

It is not all speed, as efficiency and modern, sophisticated luxury are Audi staples as well. The Q3 can return up to 37 miles per gallon due to several key design factors, including its body shape’s low wind resistance.

“The main competition for the Q3 is the BMW X1 and, frankly, lower-spec X3. It’s got a larger, more powerful engine than the 1.8-litre in the X1, and I don’t think you’d really want a basic X3 when you look at the features of the fully loaded Q3,” Stevenson added.

Judith Denton, marketing manager, said the brand is currently number two in the premium segment and the numbers looked encouraging.

“Having delivered 125 units at the end of August and with sales figures for September still outstanding… Audi is well poised to claim that coveted top premium brand spot in Jamaica in the near future,” Denton said.

With a starting price of $5,975,000 million, the Q3 positions itself very favourably against its rivals.