Audi India looks to maintain high double-digit sales growth target this year

Audi India is looking to maintain a high double-digit sales growth in the country this year riding on high demand as the festive season approaches. Despite the global supply chain issues, the company is hoping to make the most of the festive spirit. The company on Tuesday launched its new Q3 SUV at a starting price of ₹44.89 lakh (ex-showroom) after a gap of more than two years. The company hopes the model will contribute to its growth in India.

The company had posted a 49 per cent growth in retail sales at 1,765 units in January to June period of 2022 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.

Addressing the supply chain issue, he said that it is still not 100 per cent sorted out with the semiconductor shortage and shipment issues still lingering while energy prices in Europe are posing newer challenges. "We still are in a situation where you continue to ask for more cars from headquarters and demand is quite strong," he added.

Dhillon expects demand to increase with the upcoming festive season. "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 said. Further, demand is expected to come for the newly launched Q3 SUV.

The last unit of the previous Q3 was sold in India in March 2020, and the new S 6-compliant model has been launched after a gap of two years.