German luxury car manufacturer Audi will launch electric SUV Q8 e-tron in India next month as it aims to strengthen its electric vehicle (EV) portfolio in the country, according to a senior company official. The SUV Q8 e-tron will be launched on August 18.
It will come in two body types, Q8 e-tron SUV and Q8 e-tron Sportback. They will have a greater 114kW battery offering against the existing e-tron that comes with a 95 kW battery.
“We are basically strengthening our (electric vehicle) product portfolio and (bringing) what is available globally also for our customers in India,” said Audi’s India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon.
“With the Q8 e-tron, we want to strengthen our (EV) portfolio with what is the latest available across Audi’s offering.,” he added.
Audi India’s EV portfolio
The Q8 e-tron will launch in India the same time it is being launched globally.
“So, we are very positively looking towards this model to strengthen our EV range in India,” said Dhillon.
Audi India’s currently sells e-tron 50, e-tron 55, e-tron Sportback 55, e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT in its EV portfolio.
Dhillon said that the Q8 e-tron will be imported as a fully built unit and would be one of the top-end variants in the portfolio.
Audi’s Global Strategy
According to Dhillon, Audi will focus only on EVs by 2033 and would stop manufacturing cars run on International Combustion Engines (ICE).
The company will stop production of current models run on ICE. It will transition to sell only EV’s from 2033 onwards.
“We are focusing on the same. With the Q8 e-tron, we are starting our journey of the next generation (electric) cars. Subsequently in the coming years we’d also see more electric cars making way to India,” Dhillon said.
Dhillon said that Audi’s EVs in the luxury segment are gaining traction despite the cars being sold at an average price range of Rs 1.5 crore. He said that limited segment of customers is being addressed.
“The percentage of electric cars that we sell in terms of our total number is still very low, but this is only growing and hopefully in the coming times it will go further. Eventually one day we will become an all-electric car company. So the focus still remains to make e-tron a stronger brand in India,” he said.
Dhillon said that the acceptability of EVs, including e-tron is not only positive in metro cities but also in category B and category C towns.
Audi posted a 97 per cent jump in retail sales in India at 3,474 units in the first half of 2023, as compared to the same period last year. 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.
