German luxury carmaker Audi on Monday said it expects to have a significant double digit growth in India in 2023 on the back of new products and full-year availability of its popular models.
The company launched its Q3 Sportback model, a sporty compact crossover style of its popular SUV Q3, priced at Rs 51.43 lakh (ex-showroom) line as it seeks to continue with the momentum of its strong sales growth posted last year.
"I am looking at a significant high double digit growth for this year as well. We grew 27 per cent last year, but this year also we will continue to grow because the whole product line is available," Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon told PTI.
He was responding to the company's sales growth expectation in 2023. This year, he said the company will have the full product line available, including the popular models such as SUV Q3, Q7 and top end sedan A8, which were launched last year. "Then additionally, we now have the Q3 Sportback, also to be followed by the Q8 e-tron (electric SUV) in the third quarter of this year. So I'm sure this will help us gather much more volumes," Dhillon said. In 2022, Audi India posted sales of 4,187 units as compared to 3,293 units in 2021, a growth of 27.14 per cent. On the expectations from the new Q3 Sportback, he said, "We are very hopeful that we are able to offer more choice to our customers who are very well travelled across the world and they look at newer possibilities in terms of not just the interior, but also the body style."
The Q3 has been Audi's one of most successful cars historically and by extending the range to Sportback, it is the "first time any luxury player is trying it in this segment this particular kind of a body style", Dhillon added.
Further, he said, "The buyers in this segment also are pretty young and many of them are first time buyers. So that gives us an opportunity to experiment something which is new and I'm sure this will be a significant volume churner for us within the Q3 (range)." The Q3 Sportback is equipped with all-wheel drive as standard and a 2-litre petrol engine with power of 190 hp. It can accelerate from 0-100 km/hr in 7.3 seconds, the company said.
