Audi rolls out SUV Q7, mulls assembling at Volkswagen plant in AP

New Delhi, Sep 15 (UNI) Rolling out its luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) 'Audi Q7' for the Indian customers, German car-maker Audi today said it will start assembling the vehicle at the Volkswagen plant, likely to be set up in Andhra Pradesh by the end of next year.

''We can handle a large bulk of sales through imports only and presently there is no need for a manufacturing plant in India. The company is in discussions to set up an assembling plant in the country, however, the final decision will be taken depending on the response we get from customers here,'' Audi's Executive Director for the Overseas region Andra Konsbruck told reporters here.

The company plans to sell 300 units by this year and double the sales figure by 2007.

''The launch of the Q7 is a key development and we expect it to accelerate sales growth for us across the region,'' Mr Konsbruck said.

Talking about the performance of the luxury segment cars in India, Mr Konsbruck said that the segment is doing impressively well with the sale of 2,500 cars last year, a figure that is expected to touch 30,000 in the next ten years.

The company is also planning to introduce its new models -- RS4 and S8 -- in India in the near future, to appeal to the sporty and progressive lifestyles of the sophisticated customers.

For these two models, advance bookings have already opened, but the vehicle will be released first for the European markets and later in India depending upon the market conditions here.

Audi Q7 is available in two engine formats with 4.2 litre V8 with FSI petrol direct injection which develops 257kV (350bhp) and achieves a maximum torque of 440 newton metres.

Priced at Rs 61 lakh, Audi Q7 is equipped with the standard MMI operating concept including other innovative driver assistance systems such as advanced parking system with optical guidance and the rear view camera and open sky system.

The 3.0 TDI six-cylinder engine features high performance of 171 kW (233 bhp).

The occupants will benefit from the spaciousness and 28 seating and loading configurations possible in Q7.

Upto seven occupants can be accomodated in three rows of seats.

The seats in second row are individually adjustable for fore/aft movement. If used as a five-seater the Q7 boasts a load capacity of 775 litres.

The Q7 model is the fourth car to be launched by Audi in the Indian market in a single year after it brought out the A4, A6 and A8 models earlier.

Our profile comprises of sporty, progressive and sophisticated vehicles and we are targeting on the products, image, customer satisfaction and dealer network to expand our growth, Mr Konsbruck added.

Audi will invest around nine billion euros worlwide towards the product development and to set up manufacturing facilities.

The company sold 8,11,522 cars and 1,695,045 engines last year.

Achieving a growth of 8.6 per cent each year, the company expects to sell 8,80,000 thousand cars this year.

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