German luxury car maker Audi today launched its new Audi A4 sedan in the country. Prices of the new vehicle starts at Rs 29 lakh, and Audi is looking at this launch to help it achieve total sales of 1,000 cars by the end of this year.
With this, Audi will have five models in its portfolio. These are the A6, A8, TT, Audi Q7 and the A4. The company is planning to ramp up its presence in the luxury car segment through the introduction of new models and by opening more dealerships. Recently, the car maker indicated that it could launch its sports car, the R8, in India towards the end of this year.
The new Audi A4 is being launched with two engines —the “2.0 TDI multitronic” with a power-output range of 143 bhp and the “3.2 FSI tiptronic quattro” with 265 bhp. Both of them use the direct fuel injection principle. Among the two, while the first model will come at a ex-showroom price of Rs 29 lakh, the other car will be priced at Rs 36 lakh.
Audi plans to import the car initially and by the end of this year, built it locally as a completely knocked down unit at its facility in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. It now has five dealerships in the country and the new Audi A4 will be offered at five more locations coming up in the next six months — Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kochi, Calcutta and Ludhiana.
Called as the sportiest luxury sedan, the A4 has an overall length of 4.70 metres. Speaking to newspersons at the launch here today, Benoit Tiers, managing director, Audi India, said that the car also had a substantial road presence. He said that its 480-litre boot and the leg room for rear passengers are larger than any of its direct competitors.
The car is equipped with Audi Drive Select wherein drivers can adjust the operating characteristics of the engine, automatic transmission and steering to suit their preference and adjust suspension to suit the road conditions. It also features an optical parking system with a rear view camera and Bang & Olufsen sound system.
Audi, which sold close to 350 cars in India last year, is optimistic of its success in view of the strong growth of luxury cars in India.
Officials here said that the sales of such vehicles had been showing growth of over 200 per cent in some months.
No comments:
Post a Comment