Audi Korea said Tuesday that it has set next year’s sales goal at 22,000 vehicles. With three new car launches planned, the carmaker has pinned especially high hopes on the A3 hatchback, the smallest, cheapest Audi car, thus far absent in Korea.

Audi, taking advantage of the recent popularity of German luxury car brands here, achieved this year’s sales goal in October. In the first 10 months of this year, the carmaker sold 16,514 vehicles here, a 30.6 percent growth from a year ago.

Next year, the Korean unit said it would introduce three new models ― the A3 compact, the special edition TTS Competition, and the RS7 sports coupe.

The A3, in particular, is highly expected to appeal to young buyers as the compact luxury market here is already heating up with the BMW 1 Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

Despite the strong lineups waiting, Audi presented a conservative outlook of 10 percent growth next year, considering the market growth overall.

As part of its continuing efforts for better customer service, the company said it would open seven more service centers, while increasing the number of technicians from the current 282 to 410. The technicians will receive enhanced education at the carmaker’s new training center that is planned to be completed this month in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)