What made you pick an A3 ?

Being skint!

Picking the A3 as a company car over another Scirocco saves me a pretty penny; £30 a month tax, £30 a month lower contribution towards the cost of the car not to mention I'm making a very good profit when claiming back the Govt. official mileage rate of 15p per mile.

A minimum of £160 extra a month goes a long way towards new shoes and kitty toys.

Without wishing to hijack this thread, just a word on the engineers thing.
The country does make a HUGE difference, that's why there are far more engineering based companies in Germany/Japan even the USA compared to us. Germany has a excellent tradition of engineering apprenticeships, we don't any more in the UK. Our best science/engineering graduates go into finance for the money. They don't in Germany, they become engineers.
There is simply no doubt that Germany's manufacturing industry is much better than it's UK equivalent. A few British success in F1, Aero engines, or assembly plants for foreign car makers are NOT enough. Just look at how much more manufacturing contributes to Germany's industry than the UK's industry.
North sea oil saved the UK economy after the manufacturing collapse of the 70's. Now the oil is running out the medium/long-term outlook for the UK economy is very bleak

An 8p sportback was the best all-round car I've had so when a more handsome and technologically advanced replacement came out it was a no-brainer (although I did prefer and buy a 3 door). Also the PCP payments on a similarly specced golf were higher.