Is the Audi A3 Saloon Concept an A4 in Disguise?

With the Geneva Motor Show kicking off this week, we’re sure to see a flood of new car concepts and designs. Some will be outrageous and never go into production, but others, like this Audi A3 saloon concept, are likely to become something of a reality.

Although Audi is one of the biggest and most respected brands in the motor industry, it has never been able to take the US, Russia and China under its spell. Those markets have a tendency to lean towards saloon models, and the A3 has always been a hatchback. The A3 rules the UK’s motorways, but struggles in other territories.

That could now be about the change as we expect Audi to bring its A3 Saloon Concept to Geneva this week, with a release expected in 2012.

The show car will be fitted with the RS five-cylinder turbocharged engine, pushing out 408bhp to a Quattro four-wheel-drive system. The seven-speed S-tronic double-clutch transmission completes the details we have at present, but we are sure there will be more this week.

Now we know what you are thinking. We like the design, but surely this is just the next A4? If it’s not, shouldn’t it have been?