For those of us of a sceptical nature, the word ‘Sportback’ sets every alarm bell ringing on our cynic-o-meters. It smacks of lifestyle pursuits, which means the marketing people have been at work. So come on Audi, is it a five-door hatchback or an estate

Well, to be fair to the Germans it really does sit somewhere between the two, and there’s no better way of illustrating this than to walk around a Sportback. Look from one angle and the long third rear window and added overhang shout ‘estate car’.

Take a step to one side and the still-compact proportions and stretched A3 styling (an extra 83mm in length compared with the three door) identify it as simply the five-door version of the regular A3. Or perhaps it’s an estate.

The other big visual change is the adoption of Audi’s new corporate grille. There was a time when we wondered if supplementing Audi’s traditional recipe of crisp, architectural styling with a giant, mesh-filled black hole might cause controversy in corporate car parks.

But in a world where BMW is producing cars such as the less-than-traditional 1-series, the Sportback’s new snout is low-key. The eye soon accepts it, it’s unmistakably Audi and instantly recognisable on the road; mission accomplished.