Audi to have 40 dealerships by this year end

Audi had recently introduced the A8 L and now the German auto maker is looking forward to get more products in the Indian car market, especially the new Audi A3. We speak to Joe King, Head, Audi India on the company’s future plans and the upcoming products.  

1. How has Audi's performance been this year, in terms of growth and dealer expansion so far?

JK: Audi is the growth driver of the luxury car segment in India and we achieved the best ever financial year sales: 10126 units (FY13/14) after achieving the record annual sales of 10002 units in 2013.

For the Indian market, the strategy has to be right and ours has been on track. The strategy that we follow is having the right product mix, a good dealership network, a wide area after-sales service & well trained personnel for customer service.

Reflecting our seriousness towards the Indian market, we have also opened new showrooms in Visakhapatnam, Udaipur and Nashik earlier this year. Going ahead, we intend to open more dealerships this year and expand our network to 40 dealerships by the year-end.

2. The new A8L is just launched. Is it possible for you to share the number of bookings it has received?

JK: We introduced our flagship model, the new Audi A8L last month. With the launch of the new Audi A8L, we are confident of further consolidating our leadership position in the market. The new Audi A8L offers luxury connoisseurs in India excellent comfort, superb craftsmanship, strict lightweight construction and a broad portfolio of high-end technologies which truly reflect brand’s philosophy of Vorsprung durch Technik. The response has been good but it will be too premature to talk about sales figures of the model right now.

3. Audi's competition is introducing all their performance version cars. Can we expect the same from Audi anytime soon?

JK: Audi has been a leader in the performance car segment. We have a fascinating range of performance cars comprising of the Audi S4, Audi S6, Audi RS5 coupe, Audi R8, Audi R8 Spyder and Audi R8 V10 plus. We also launched the Audi RS 7 Sportback- the most powerful car in the Audi fleet in January this year.

4. How many more dealerships can be expect by the end of this year?

JK: Going ahead, we intend to open more dealerships this year and expand our network to 40 dealerships by the year-end.

5. What will be the split between the Audi Q3 auto and the newly introduced manual in percentage?

JK: Cannot comment on this point.