Audi maintaining high double-digit sales growth target in India this year: Balbir S Dhillon

German luxury carmaker Audi is maintaining a high double-digit sales growth target in India this year, despite global supply chain issues, riding on buoyant demand and festive season is expected to fuel it further, a senior company official said.

The company on Tuesday relaunched its popular Q3 SUV in India with price starting at Rs 44.89 lakh (ex-showroom) after a gap of more than two years.

With this, Audi sees the new introduction playing a significant role in its growth in the country going forward.

In the January-June period of 2022, Audi India had posted 49 per cent growth in retail sales at 1,765 units as compared to 1,181 units in the same period last year.

"No doubt, the first half was good. We are looking at high double-digit growth, but how much it will be I cannot say right now because the global challenges are still not over," Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon told PTI on Tuesday.

The supply chain is still not 100 per cent sorted out with the semiconductor shortage and shipment issues still lingering, besides energy prices in Europe posing new challenges, he added.

"We still are in a situation where you continue to ask for more cars from headquarters and demand is quite strong," he said, adding, supply is unable to match demand.

With the upcoming festive season, Dhillon said demand would only increase.

"The festive season just started and we see the uptick in our order bank. From now till the end of the year, we always have this last three or four months where the demand actually goes up," he added.

When asked how the newly launched Q3 would play a role in the company's future sales growth, he said, "This product is one of our best sellers and it has always been. We have been waiting for this for quite a while now."

Although the supplies of the new Q3 will only start by the end of this year, he added, "We are trying to get as many cars as possible and that is why we also started to do pre-booking. I am sure we will have a decent number of cars also sold this year. If it is 12 months supplies, it makes a huge difference. So it will give us that full year impact only next year, but we will still sell a decent number even this year."

The last unit of the previous Q3 was sold in India in March 2020. With India moving to BS-VI emission norms, Audi had decided to sell only petrol models complying with the new regulation and paused selling of the model in India.

The all-wheel drive new Q3 is powered by a 2-litre engine that generates power of 190 hp. It will be available in two variants -- 'Premium Plus' priced at Rs 44.89 lakh and 'Technology' tagged at Rs 50.39 lakh.

Audi India had reported a two-fold jump in retail sales at 3,293 units in India in 2021 as compared to 1,639 units in the year-ago period.