Audi replaces indicator stalks with buttons for new £38,300 Q3

The Audi Q3 has returned for a third generation, bringing a fresh design and a quite radical interior operational change.

One of the German car maker’s best selling models – having sold more than two million globally since its 2011 launch – the crossover will arrive in September priced from £38,300.

While sporting a much-changed new design compared to the previous model, one of its most interesting changes comes inside, where traditional control stalks have been replaced with a new solid block with buttons. 

What Audi refers to as its ‘steering wheel control unit’ houses everything from drive selection and light functions to windscreen wiper operations and even the indicators. All are operated by physical buttons and the panel ends do not, like a stalk, move.

If customer feedback is positive on the new control unit, it will likely be rolled out across the rest of the range. Audi isn’t the first car maker to try and reinvent operational stalks, the most notable being Tesla which, with the facelifted Model 3, did away with them altogether, moving indicators to touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel - something, after feedback, it reversed with the updated Model Y.

What’s more, removing the previous model’s gear lever has freed up space in the centre console for a pair of cup holders and a wireless charging pad. Elsewhere, the Q3’s cabin gains a new 12.8inch infotainment screen and 11.9inch instrument cluster.

The new Q3 arrives with a fresh exterior design which is a big departure from the more rounded second-generation car it replaces. 

The crossover borrows much of its lighting signatures from the new A6 Avant: at the front it uses its slimmed LED lights, and at the rear the same light bar and rear light designs. The Q3’s rear badge is, like most new VW Group cars, also illuminated.