Audi to bring R8 supercar to India by end-2008

Audi will start importing the mid-engined, 420 horsepower R8 supercar to India, by the end of this year. The price for the R8 is yet to be finalised...

German luxury carmaker, Audi has announced that it plans to launch its R8 supercar in India, by the end of this year. ‘India is an important market for Audi, and there has been a tremendous interest in the R8. So it was inevitable that we launch the Audi R8 here,’ said Benoit Tiers, MD, Audi India.

When it’s launched in India later this year, the R8 will be available at Audi dealerships in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The car’s price has not been fixed yet for the Indian market.

Audi to debut new MMI 3G ‘infotainment’ system on the Q5

When the Audi Q5 crossover comes to India (as a CBU) next year, it will have the very latest in MMI technology and in-car infotainment...

Harman/Becker Automotive Systems, a unit of Harman International have announced that its latest MMI 3G infotainment system will debut in the new Audi Q5 compact crossover vehicle later this year. The Audi Q5 is expected to be available as a CBU in India, by mid-2009.

‘The exceptional performance spectrum of this new platform is a tribute to the cooperation and team spirit between our two companies' specialists,’ said Dinesh C. Paliwal, Harman Chief Executive Officer. ‘We are delighted to apply our leading-edge technology with Audi to create an exciting new experience for drivers.’

The Harman/Audi platform, it is claimed, sets new benchmarks for automotive navigation, communication and wide-screen entertainment. A high-performance NVIDIA graphics processor ensures that navigation map images transition smoothly, even when the vehicle quickly changes direction.

Driver orientation is enhanced by a three-dimensional landscape view that reproduces true-to-scale terrain. Photorealistic depiction of points of interest allows visual matching of key landmarks to the in-car display, and identification of commercial points of interest is enhanced with well-known brand logos. Available map media cover 43 European countries, the United States and Canada, but not India, so we wonder what happens to the hapless Indian consumer when the Q5 is launched here in 2009.

Anyway, the new MMII 3G system supports precise audio route instructions and voice commands for audio, telephone, address book and navigation functions. In eight languages, no less. The system supports connection of external devices such as USB storage media or an Apple iPod; a jukebox function also allows for creation of personal music playlists.

Well, we’re sure BMW and Mercedes-Benz will have something to say about Audi’s new MMI system very soon…!

New Audi A4 gets five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash testing, car coming to India next month

The new Audi A4 is coming to India in July!

Audi has announced that it intends to launch the new A4 in India in July this year. ‘The new Audi A4 will be a very important model for India. The A4 holds a special significance with respect to achieve our proposed goal of more than 1,000 sold cars in India by the end of this year,’ said Benoit Tiers, MD, Audi India.

Orders for the new A4 are now being accepted at Audi’s dealerships in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Priced at Rs 29 lakh, the new A4 will be up against cars like the new Mercedes-Benz C-class and BMW 3-series.

And here’s some news that prospective A4 buyers may find interesting – the car has earned a 5-star rating (the highest rating possible) in Euro NCAP crash testing. The results achieved by the new Audi A4 for adult protection in frontal and side crashes as well as child and pedestrian protection make it one of the safest vehicles in its class, worldwide.

The Euro NCAP’s demanding test requirements substantially exceed the guidelines stipulated by European lawmakers. The data collected on the A4 for driver and passenger safety in frontal and side crashes earned the vehicle five stars, the best rating possible. The Audi A4 offers good protection for children as well: the test results for child safety are also high, with four stars earned.

Founded in 1997, the Euro NCAP consortium conducts crash tests with all of the important vehicles on the European market. It seeks to systematically improve safety in traffic, thus protecting the lives of all road users.

Audi posts 123pc increase in sales, expects new A4 to do well

The new Audi A4 will be available in India by July this year

Audi says its immediate aim is to sell at least 1,000 – 1,200 cars in India in 2008. The company, which will be introducing the new A4 sedan in India in July this year, says it has posted a 123% increase in sales in the first four months of 2008. Audi has sold 321 cars in January-April 2008, compared with only 144 units in the same period last year.

Audi expects the new A4 to play a major role in helping the company achieve its sales target for the year. With a whole lineup of cars – A4, A6, A8 sedans and the Q7 SUV – the German car company seems to be in a good position to take on the might of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, despite the Audi name not having the same cachet in India.

In India, Audis are currently available in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. New Audi dealerships are likely to be opened at Ludhiana, Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin and Ahemdabad.

Audi to sell more than 1000 units in India by end-2008

The brand-new Audi Q5 should be launched in India by the end of 2008

German luxury car manufacturer, Audi has said it wants to sell at least 1,200 cars in India by the end of 2008, as compared to only 350 cars it sold last year. The company is gearing up to start assembly of its A4 model, which will compete with cars like the Mercedes-Benz C-class and the BMW 3-series, at Aurangabad.

The Indian arm of Audi has seen an 80 percent growth during the first quarter of 2008, selling 220 cars in the country. In the long term, Audi sees India as one of its top five car markets and the company plans to launch some of its very latest cars here. For example, in addition to the Q7 SUV already being sold in India, Audi also plans to launch the smaller Q5. Local assembly of the A4 is expected to start by July this year, and Audi will be investing about 10 million euros for this. The plant will have an initial capacity of 800 units, which could be upped to 1,600 in 2009.

Audi, which already has showrooms in Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chandigarh, also plans to open showrooms in Ludhiana, Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin and Ahemdabad. The company wants to compete with other German car manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the rapidly burgeoning luxury car market in India, while making sure its India strategy and operations are in sync with other group brands, Volkswagen and Skoda.