German luxury carmaker Audi will kick off its electric vehicles’ journey in India within 2-3 months with the launch of its fully electric SUV e-tron and crossover e-tron Sportback in the country. Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon told news agency PTI that the carmaker was in the planning stages of its India launches.
Towards the end of 2020, the company had plans to launch an e-tron. However, it had to shelve those plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To begin with, Audi India will import “a decent quantity of vehicles”, said Dhillon, while launching the two models in India. Consumers can place customised orders for the SUVs, which would be delivered in about four months from the time of ordering. Dhillion also didn’t deny the possibility of manufacturing the cars locally. He said that there was a requirement of certain volumes for it to be locally assembled. Also, he stated that the company would be able to come up with more variants in future.
Audi had announced a five-year worldwide plan, as part of which the company would unveil 30 electrified vehicles globally. This would include 20 pure electric vehicles and 10 plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2025.
According to Dhillon, out of these 30 electrified vehicles, some of the models would make their way into India, apart from the two models. Being optimistic about the electric vehicle market in India, he said that the government’s blueprint was also clear by keeping GST low on electric vehicles and doing away with registration fees.
Talking about Audi’s decision to unveil the two electric vehicle models simultaneously, Dhillon stated that it was aimed at offering customers a wider choice. Along with the car, the company would give one charging point to the customer.
However, of the 30 electric cars that the company plans worldwide till 2025, the number of models to reach India would depend on the business case that the company is able to build for each of the models.
