Volkswagen unit Audi India is adding an extra assembly line at its Aurangabad plant in Maharashtra to build the luxury Q7 SUV and the upcoming entry level Q3, which is expected to be launched in June-July this year, according to local reports.
With its current capacity, the company can assemble around 6,000-6,500 units a year, dnaindia.com reported.
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Audi India head Michael Perschke was quoted as saying: “The new line can accommodate at least two models, which will take care of our additional requirements for the next two to three years.”
“When we started in India [Audi already assembles its medium-size Q5 SUV locally – ed], the initial investment budgeted was EUR30m. We have already invested EUR20m so far and the [remaining] EUR10m will be utilised for the expansion,” added Perschke.
Audi is third behind BMW and Mercedes in the Indian luxury car segment and expects to gain volume and share from planned new product launches.
It is expecting to grow almost 50% in 2012 as it targets selling 8,000 units for the year, dnaindia said.
The company is planning to introduce at least eight products this year and expects Q3 to be its ‘bread and butter’ model for India.
“There is a lot of volume potential in the Q3 segment and we want to position it as an aspirational product in the INR2-3m (US$41,000-$61,400) range of SUVs. It will be our bread and butter car for this year,” said Perschke.
“Our strategy is to enter one new segment every year, which will be the game changer for the company,” he added.
Audi India sold 667 cars in January 2012, up 39% year on year. It ended 2011 with sales up 84% to 5,511.
The website indiancarsbikes.in said building the Q7 from CKD kits at Aurangabad would enable Audi India to drop the price.
A vehicle imported fully assembled attracts a hefty 60% import duty and other taxes levied by the government. Importing the vehicle as a CKD assembly kit halves import duty to 30% and that reduces further to 10% if the engine and transmission is also assembled in India.
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