Premium automaker, Audi has announced the launch of new AQR design initiative in Germany and is now focusing on looking at stake purchases is several leading designing firms.

Audi is planning to make investments in the leading German design firms in order to boost its new design initiative. The auto maker is believed to be planning to acquire 49% stake in CSI Unternehmensgruppe, which has been in the field since 1995 and has clients like Mercedes Benz and Porsche. The Germany-based CSI has expertise in designing the exterior and interior modules of cars.

Premium German car maker, Audi is planning to launch a new tyre programme offering suitable winter tyres to its customers.

New winter tyres will now be available from Audi centres for most of the models offered by the company for £550 including charged for fitting and taxes in the UK. The Audi centres will also stock full wheel and tyre sets for 16 to 19- inch styles, from £792.

The winter tires, which retain their flexibility at temperatures below freezing, offer huge safety benefits when compared to other tires while driving in cold climate, according to experts.

Auto maker, Audi has confirmed that it will produce a new environment friendly A8 limousine. The new model is slated to go into production in 2012. It will be powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine along with an electric motor. It has a overall fuel economy of 44mpg and a CO2 emissions are below under 148g/km.

The combined power of the petrol engine and the electric motor is 242bhp that can take the car from zero to 62mph in just 7.7 seconds and has a top speed of 146mph.

Mumbai, May 5 : German luxury car manufacturer Audi's Indian subsidiary Thursday reported a 98 percent increase in sales for the month of April at 375 units as compared to 189 vehicles in the like period of last year.

"Our positive growth momentum is a result of our customer-centric approach, supplemented with the expansion of our dealer network and enhancement of our energetic product line," Audi India head Michael Perschke said.

According to Perschke, the company was planning to launch its sports car A7 and a new variant of luxury sedan A6 in the coming months.

Mumbai, April 1 : German luxury car manufacturer Audi's Indian subsidiary Friday said it sold 1,611 cars in January-March, a growth of 107 percent over 778 cars sold in the same period last year.

"Our impressive performance this quarter is testimony to the positive customer response to progressive design, exceptional service standards and cutting edge technology," said Michael Perschke, head of Audi India.

The company reported an increase of 210 percent in its sales for the month of March, which stood at 681 cars as against 220 cars in March 2010.

Luxury car manufacturer Audi launched its new A8 sedan in the Indian market.

The newly launched car is priced at Rs 89 lakh (Delhi ex-showroom).

The German car major, a part of the Volkswagen group stated that it anticipates full-year sales to cross 4,500 units, depicting a 50% increase.

The company is speedily growing in the country and is the third-largest luxury car manufacturer after BMW and Mercedes.

The German car manufacturer Audi has selected the city of fortress, Jaipur for unbolting the latest retail area for its comfort makes.

The Head for Audi India and MD of Audi Japiur brightly participated in the opening occasion. The chairperson of Audi India reminisce the royal prominence of Rajasthan and the skilled auto dealer of the city Kamal Autotech. He articulated the attraction of having such a qualified dealer for the international decorated cars. 

The Audi presented the innovative Quattro concept for cars in the Paris motor show. The original sports Quattro built in 1984, was an instant classic despite the fact that only 224 cars were ever built.

The Audi Quattro concept adopts the style and mechanical layout of the 1984 version whose chassis has been redefined from steel to light weight aluminum structure. The rework is supposed to get solution for the rear three- quarter panel problem which had made the parking a tough task to deal with.

While Audi has taken its own time to gain momentum in the Indian luxury car market, but the fact of the matter is that the company is surely trying to match up with the other two German competitors, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

In fact, according to the recently made announcements, the company has said that it is targeting a 30% market share from the domestic circuit by the end of the next year.

While the third largest luxury carmaker in the Indian market, Audi India has been considered as an underdog by many but the fact of the matter is that this German auto major is catching up pace real fast.

The company has recently expanded its distribution network by opening a brand new showroom in the financial capital of the country - Mumbai. It is to be mentioned here that the recently opened showroom is an
18,000 sq ft showroom which will have close to 12 cars on display.

After being an underdog in the domestic circuit for the past couple of years, perhaps the German luxury carmaker, Audi has now decided to go hands on towards the market leadership position in the Indian market.

In fact, as the company is planning to foray into the used car biz by next year, it has recently said that the company will ramp up its output by 50 per cent in India to about 3,000 units next year.

Apart from the capacity expansion plans, the company is also targeting the launch of A7 for the Indian market and will soon conduct a market study for the same.

With a view to get a large chunk of the Indian luxury car consumer in its bag, Audi, the German luxury car manufacturer, recently announced the opening of its upgraded state-of-the-art showroom and service facility in Bangalore.

While the dealership was inaugurated by Michael Perschke, Head - Audi India, Shamit Bhartia, Director- Audi Bengaluru (Jubilant Motors Private Limited), K. Subramanian, Chief Executive Officer - Audi Bengaluru (Jubilant Motors Private Limited), it is believed that it will give a lot of boost to the plans to the company in the long-run.

The German luxury car maker has recently said that Audi is striving hard to meet the rising demand for its product in the Chinese market. In fact, the chairman of the company Rupert Stadler recently said that the Chinese market could become its main market this year ahead of Germany.

Stadler also mentioned the fact that even after expanding its capacity regularly, the company has not been able to meet the rising demand of the consumers.

Owing to the increasing demand for luxury cars, the German luxury carmaker Audi has targeted to expand its market share in India to 25 per cent by the end of 2010 as compared to the current 20 per cent.

Audi is the fastest progressing brand in its product in the Indian market and has an astounding 71 per cent growth to boast of. The company is also at rank three in the premium car market.

As the competition in the luxury segment is entering the next lap, the third largest player in the luxury car segment is well aware of the fact that getting the local content into the product gives a competitive edge to the company.

Notably, the German luxury car manufacturer, Audi has recently announced that the company shall be starting the assembly of the Q5 model in Aurangabad and in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Further the Q5 shall be the third product after the A4 and A6 that shall be manufactured in the Indian market.

German luxury car maker Audi has started assembling its sports utility vehicle (SUV) Q5 at its Aurangabad (Maharashtra) manufacturing facility.

The Q5 is the company's third model after the A4 and A6 to be manufactured in the Indian market.

Audi has decided to make 1,500 units on a yearly basis.

Frank Dreves, Audi board member for production stated, "The production of the Q5 is part of our long-term growth strategy in India."

"The Indian market for automobiles will grow very rapidly, and the Q5 is the right automobile at the right time," Frank added.

With a target to reach the top slot in the Indian luxury car sales market by 2015, Audi is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that it reaches its target well in time.

Notably, the company posted a growth of 65% in the month of May by selling 200 cars as compared to 121 cars in the year-ago period.

According to the release issued by the company, it has been able to clock this whopping growth due to the Audi Q7 4.2 TDi quattro, which the company claims to be the latest and most powerful version of the largest selling luxury SUV in India.

German car maker, Audi unveils its fastest version, Audi R8 GT, booking of which commences this summer and the shipment of the same will be done by next year spring.

The German car maker which has increasingly raised it share in the car market with its exclusive ranged models such as the R8 has upgraded to give it the status of being the fastest in its league. The car has a kerb weight of
1,525 kg, and a power-to-weight ratio of around 362bhp per ton.

The Indian subsidiary of the global luxury carmaker, Audi AG has been able to keep its flag flying in the domestic market as the company has sold 189 units as compared to 112 units sold in April 2009.

Notably, the sales of the company in the month April has bought itself an impressive growth of 69% in April 2010, which is way above its counterparts in the Indian market.

With a view to gain more ground in the Indian market to fulfil its 2015 target as the #1 luxury carmaker in the Indian market., Audi India is certainly on track to make its dream come true. In fact, the company has recently made a significant appointment to its management team with an objective to grow at a faster pace in the Indian market.