Audi to launch A-8 by Dec

Luxury carmaker Audi will launch its high-end A 8 model by this year-end, a top company official said Wednesday.

The company is targeting a 30 per cent marketshare in the Indian market by next year even as it plans to expand its dealership network to 18.

Currently, Audi enjoys about 24 per cent of the luxury car market in India, that is pegged at around 15,000-20,000 units of cars.

"We are looking at increasing our marketshare as well as focusing on profitabilty. By next year we target around 30 per cent share in the Indian market. We expect a huge growth coming from the metros as well as Tier II cities," Audi India head Micheal Perschke told PTI on the sidelines of the launch of its new showroom in Mumbai.

The company is looking at selling about 1,000 units during the September-December period this year.

So far this year, the company has sold around 1,876 cars (January-August), as against 1,128 units in the year-ago period.

In August, it sold 250 cars, a 46 per cent jump from 171 units in the same period last year.

The German carmaker of the Volkswagon Group, makes cars such as Skoda and Volkswagon, is looking at increasing the dealership network to 18 across the country from the current 10.

"We are looking at increasing our distribution network. India is a strategic market and is growing as demand is coming from smaller cities such as Bhubaneswar and Patna in the Eastern region. We are looking at a 45 per cent growth next year.

"We are planning to open more showrooms in cities such as Surat, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Indore and Coimbatore," he said.

The premium carmaker is also looking at launching its highend A-8 model by end this year for Indian consumers, he said.