 "Audi India sales on reverse gear, down 18% to 6,463 units in 2018")
German luxury car maker Audi plans to develop the market in India by bringing in more brands and expanding the network across the country, an official of Audi India said on Friday.
Head of Audi India Balbir Singh Dhillon said that the company, part of the Volkswagen Group, presently assembles four internal combustion (IC) cars in India, two SUVs and two sedans.
"To develop the market in the country, we will bring in more brands and also expand the network. We have presently 60 touchpoints across the country", Dhillon said.
Audi India, the third largest luxury car company in terms of sales, is having enough capacity to meet the demand at its Aurangbad plant for the next five years. These four models are assembled at the plant after bringing them in CKD form. Other models are directly imported.
In 2021, the company sold 3293 cars, 101 per cent growth over 2020. Dhillon said that the present conflict in East Europe may disrupt the supply chain since many components are sourced from Ukraine.
Dhillon said we don't aim to become number one in sales, but to chase a sustainable business model.
To a query, he said the company had already introduced five electric vehicles (EV) in India. Dhillon added that the target is that by 2025, 15 per cent of the company's sales will be EVs Globally, Audi plans to stop sales of IC cars by 2033 and start selling all EV models.
He said by 2026 onwards, all new generation cars will be electric. Dhillon has also pitched for reduction in import duties on EVs by the Indian government for three to five years. "If we get reasonable volumes, we can start assembly of EVs in India only", he added.
The company stopped selling of diesel cars from April 2020. The company now is selling only petrol and EVs.
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