The Audi R8 sports car is coming to India.
Audi India’s Vice-President marketing, Martin Birkner said that the German luxury car maker would roll out its sports car R8 in India in October-November 2008.
Audi has refused to offer any information on the price of the R8 in India as of now. The Audi R8 will be the ccompany’s flagship model in India. The mid-engined Audi R8 would come with 420 bhp engine produced by a 4,163 cc petrol engine. It features Audi’s legendary Quattro all-wheel drive system, and a 6-speed R-tronic transmission with paddle-shift, for 0-100 kmph figures of 4.2 seconds. Top speed is a mind-boggling, (and in India highly illegal) 300 kmph. Maximum torque is 430 Nm between 4,500 and 6,000 rpm. Rumors are that the price of the R8 might go as high as rs 1 crore, making it uaffordable for everyone but millionnaires.
Here is our latest story on the Audi car in India
Prior to the announcement of the upcoming launch of the Audi R8, the company revealed that it sold 350 cars in India during 2007. In 2008, Audi plans to triple that number, mainly banking on the Q4 sedan which launched in India just a week back. Audi expects to sell 1000 units of A4 in the first 12 months of its launch. The prices of the new Audi A4 start at Rs 29 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai).
Apart from the A4, the other Audi models currently available in India are the A8, Q7, A6 and TT. Currently, Audi has 7 dealerships in India.
The company meanwhile has ruled out the launch of its small car, the A3, in India at the moment. It is a known fact that Audi makes its A6 at its Aurangabad assembly plant on a completely knocked down unit. It is doing the same with A4 by this October. The model is currently being imported.