Audi To Launch Sports Car R8 In India

"We will launch R8 sports car in October-November in the last quarter. We already have the first order (in India)", Audi India Vice-President Marketing Martin Birkner said in Bangalore.

Audi sold 350 cars in India in the 2007 calender year and has a target to nearly triple that number, mainly driven by sales of A4 sedan that was launched in India this month.

"As we target sales of 1,000 cars in India by the end of this year, the new Audi A4 will be a crucial product to help us achieve this goal", Birkner said.

Audi, which commenced business activities in India in 2007, is keen to build the brand here, where the luxury car market has seen rapid growth, particularly in the April-June quarter.

"We have more or less launched the brand in India last year. We have to build up the brand and we would like to push the brand (in India)," Birkner said.

Audi's model range in India comprises A8, Q7, A6, A4 and TT.

Birkner said Audi expects to sell 1,000 units of A4 within a year of its launch, indicating that the sedan would be a main driver of growth for the company in the near term.

Prices of the new Audi A4 start at Rs 29 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai without CST, transportation etc)

The company sold 470 cars in the January-June period of 2008 and "with Audi, A4 will definitely cross the 1,000-mark".

Audi builds its A6 model at its Aurangabad assembly plant and plans to do the same with A4, which is currently being imported and would be completed by October.

According to Birkner, the company's small car A3 is not an option (launch) for India "at the moment".

Audi currently has seven exclusive dealerships in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Five new Audi dealerships would come up in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata and Ludhiana by year-end, Birkner said.

Source: By DDNEWS