German luxury carmaker Audi is putting its bet on
petrol, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles in India, driving away from
diesel cars, as the country gears up to adopt strict BS-VI emission norms
from April next year, according to a top company official.
With the automobile market currently on a downturn, Audi India expects sales to
remain muted even next year and pick up only in 2021, stabilising after BS-VI
implementation.
The company is gearing up to launch its full electric SUV e-tron in the early
part of next year in sync with the government’s push for electric
mobility.
“For India we want to launch the e-tron latest by 2020 beginning…We do
believe that not only e-tron but even plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)
and petrol will define the path for Audi in India,” the company’s outgoing
India head Rahil Ansari told .
He said the company has witnessed a clear shift in demand from diesel to petrol
vehicles here in India.
“Earlier petrol percentage was 10 per cent, this year we have about 35-40
per cent petrol already and next year we will have for the first time in Audi
India’s history larger share of petrol than diesel. We are also pushing for
this,” Ansari added.
As part of the plans, the company will bring in only petrol options of its
upcoming new A6, A8 and Q8 vehicles. The company will launch the new A6 sedan
in September this year, followed by A8 and Q8 in December.
“We do believe that this is the right step, in combination with EV and
PHEV. So first we will see how the market develops. This is a very courageous
step but we do believe that this is the future for us, when it comes to
reducing emissions in India,” Ansari said.
On future product profile, he said,”We will definitely bring in more cars
in the volume segment from next year onwards. We will also have good models
that are not only upper end but also also the bottom end of
(luxury).”
He further said Audi India is also discussing with the headquarters in Germany
on completely new products which are “about to be confirmed in the next
few months to test waters” here.
“If these turn out to be successful, we may even look at local
production,” Ansari said without disclosing details.
Commenting on sales outlook, he said, “We don’t expect the market to grow
this year. Overall, the next 12-24 months the market will stabilise and from
then onwards it will grow. So, basically from 2021 onwards the markets will
grow again and the luxury market will also grow again.”
Explaining his views, Ansari said, “When the shift to BS-VI comes, there
will be a bit of an unnatural peak in the first quarter of next year and there
will be an unnatural decline in the second quarter as people would have bought
in the first quarter. Then the market will stabilise in the third and fourth
quarter and by 2021 it will go up again.”
Audi India had sold 6,463 units last year and expects sales to be flat this
year, with growth returning from 2021, he said.
Ansari said the company is also focussing on digitisation to serve its
customers better. India is the first market globally where Audi has introduced
augmented reality which helps customers during buying process by providing an
extremely realistic experience of their individually configured car.
Source: PTI