Car News in India

German luxury car manufacturer Audi envisages record sales for 2008. A division of Volkswagen, Audi AG has posted a record results for 2007 and now plans to beat the new record. Audi is currently marketing five models –A4, A6, A8, Audi Q7 and Audi TT. The entry level Audi model starts with a price of Rs 28 lakhs. The company witnessed 18 % growth in India during 2007.

While the luxury sedan A6 is assembled at the Skoda facility in Maharashtra, other models are imported to India. The company plans to begin assembling A4 by this year end. The A6 is created and marketed exclusively for the Indian market. Apart from India, Audi has also achieved record sales in 50 countries.

Audi is the third largest luxury car manufacturers in India, following Mercedes-Benz and    BMW. Its net profit has jumped by 26 percent to 107.9 billion rupees. “We are on the path of surpassing the one million mark. We have grown in all regions where we have a presence and continue to increase the pace in 2008,” said Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler, in a statement to the press persons. The company has delivered 9,64,000 units in 2007. The operating profits rose to 171.5 billion rupees from 127 billion a year in 2006. Europe, China and Middle East have driven sales to record level, according to company’s statement.

Mr. Stadler has said India is a key component in their strategy for worldwide sales by 2015. The company has invested over 30 million euros for production line in India. With this, the company has long term investment plan in India, which is considered as one of the world’s most promising automotive market.