Audi dominates the luxury car segment, and it is not too keen to give that position away soon. It has launched three cars this year already, including the new Audi Q5, new Audi R8 V10, the Audi R8 V10 plus; and also a new variant of the Audi Q3 – the Audi Q3 2.0 TFSI. It also expanded it’s dealership network at South Mumbai, Lucknow and Bhubaneswar, it plans to open eight more by the end of this year. It looks like the company wants to increase it’s market dominance even more, a cheaper variant of the Audi Q3 variant has been spied testing which is expected to be launched in the market very soon. Audi is also planning to assemble the Audi Q3 in India to make it more affordable and give its rivals a hard time.
Updated on 20th September 2013
Audi has started assembling the Audi Q3 in India. Assembled at Volkswagen group plant of Skoda at Aurangabad, the Q3 is Audi’s fifth model to be assembled in the country. The other Audi cars assembled in India include the A4, the A6, the Q5 and the Q7. Local production brings down the production cost, delivery times and also allows the company to offer new variants of the model as needed without spending too much in terms of resources.
“Local production of the Audi Q3 is part of our long-term growth strategy in India, one of the most promising auto markets in the world,” said Dr. Frank Dreves, Audi Board Member for Production.
“Local production of the Audi Q3 means that Audi India is now building all our Q range models locally. This will reduce waiting times for our customers and will enable us to offer a wider range of versions in the market. This move demonstrates our confidence in the success of our Q range…. We are confident that we will continue to retain our dominance in the luxury SUV segment in India,” said Joe King, Head of Audi India.
Updated on 4th June 2013
The Audi Q3 had the entry level compact luxury car market all to itself when it was launched last year. BMW’s X1 was cheaper, but it’s cost cutting measures, and the unavailability of a four-wheel drive system did not make it very popular. Of late, Audi has found some developments that might hurt the sales of the Q3, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class was launched at the end of May 2013 and BMW launched a revamped X1 in February 2013. Both the rivals are cheaper and have enough equipment on-board to make life difficult for the Q3.
The solution for this problem could be an assembled-in-India base variant of the Q3, which will lose the Quattro all-wheel-drive system and also lose some creature comforts. As of now, the Audi Q3 is imported fully built from Spain, this makes the it pretty expensive at about Rs. 27 lakhs. Local assembly of the car will certainly lower the price by a fair margin, and a lower variant could target the Mercedes-Benz A-Class which costs between 21.93 lakhs and 22.73 lakhs (ex-showroom Mumbai).
Follow this space for more about the cheaper Audi Q3.
photo source: forum.autocarindia.com
