Audi expects all-new Q5 SUV to drive next phase of growth in India
German luxury carmaker Audi is seeking to accelerate its sales
growth in India with the launch of its all-new Q5 SUV, one of its volume
drivers next month, according to a senior company official.
The company will open bookings of the upcoming Q5 in the next
couple of weeks. It had suspended sales of its popular SUVs Q3, Q5 and the Q7
last year when India moved to BS-VI emission norms with the company also
deciding to stop offering diesel engine options in the country.
"We plan to launch the locally produced Q5 in the month of
November. We've been waiting for this for a long time. So far we are doing
extremely well in spite of the fact that some of our volume models like Q range
are not there in full strength," Audi India Head
Balbir Singh Dhillon told PTI.
With this Q5 launch next month, he added, "We are now looking
forward towards the next phase of our growth and I'm pretty confident that will
also come sooner than later. The Q5 is one of our most successful models from
the time that we have been in India."
Audi India, which shares its annual sales numbers only, had sold 1,639 units in
2020. However, in terms of growth in the first eight months of 2021 it has
already witnessed 115 per cent increase in sales.
"On the volume side, we already have three digit growth for
this year and I am expecting that with the Q5 and other models later, it will
only go up," Dhillon said.
On the absence of its popular high volume models such as Q3, Q5
and Q7 SUVs from the Indian market, Dhillon said when the emission norms in
India moved last year from BS-IV to BS-VI the company had also decided that to
go from "petrol plus diesel strategy to petrol and electrification".
The coronavirus pandemic had also delayed the homologation of the
new vehicles for compliance of Indian regulations.
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