The Hindu Business Line : Audi to launch 7 new models

"We will initially sell three models, the first of which will hit the roads by March," the country manager for Asia-Pacific, Mr Sunil Kaul, told Business Line.

All the models will be sold as CBUs. He said the new A8 4.2 Quattro long wheel-base worth between Rs 65 lakh and Rs 70 lakh, A6 3.0 worth around Rs 40 lakh and the sports car, TT Coupe 1.8T worth around Rs 35 lakh will be on sale initially. Between 2005 and 2009, the carmaker, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, expects to sell around 1,000 units in the country.

Audi may also sell the new A4 in India. The new Audi A6 and TT models are currently undergoing homologation tests at the Automobile Research Association of India in Pune.

Mr Kaul said industrialists Mr Amit Burman of the Dabur Group and Bharatias of Jubiliant Organsys and Mr Samir Sampath, NRI, have been selected as partners (dealers) for Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Though none of these partners had experience of selling cars, they have been selected for their experience in managing big businesses. "Their networking ability and their ability to manage business will help Audi to sell the luxury cars here," he said.

Mr Kaul said that once Audi starts selling large number of cars in India, it would look at the possibility of setting up of an assembly unit in the country. "In case we set up an assembly unit, we hope to sell more numbers than the projected 1,000 units," he said.

The first step of the strategy is to sell Audi models as a completely built unit and the next step is to set up a completely knocked down (CKD) unit in India.

Audi has worked out a detailed marketing plan for selling its models in India. "There will be plenty of below the line activity as well apart from other promotional exercises," Mr Kaul said.

He said he expected the southern market to respond well to Audi cars because the customers were more discerning than in the rest of the country.

"Each of these cars will be designed for Indian roads taking into account the conditions of the roads and the ground clearance required for such cars," he said.

Mr Kaul said before launching newer models, Audi plans to take a small group of customers to Germany to get their feedback and based on that India-specific models will be launched. Most of the spare parts will be sourced from the warehouse in Singapore.