One of the biggest luxury carmaker in the world, Audi India has announced the conclusion of the first round of bookings of recently launched Audi Q3 for the first phase, which included 500 units of the spectacular SUV. This certainly is a new record in this segment, where Audi was able to complete the bookings for entire 500 Q3 models in just five days from its launch. Debuted at the 2012 Auto Expo in Delhi, the Audi Q3 is one of the most anticipated vehicles of the year. The newest and youngest member of Q family was a certain knockout in the Indian market. Packed with a 2.0-litre TDI quattro engine, the SUV gives both, performance and fuel-economy. Prices of the Audi Q3 start at Rs 26,21,000 (Ex-showroom Maharashtra) for the base grade and Rs 31,49,000 onwards (Ex-showroom Maharashtra) for the high grade.
“Never before has any luxury SUV received such an overwhelming response as the Audi Q3. The success of Audi Q3 is setting the speed for us to race ahead towards our next level of growth in India. This year, we have already surpassed our expectations in the Indian luxury car market and now we are even more confident of maintaining the momentum as the Audi Q3 invites new customers to our family. With ever increasing customer groups demanding for luxury mobility in a compact form and Audi Q3’s antecedents as a true luxury SUV, this SUV will lead the way for us to enter this new segment in India. Our confidence that Audi Q3 will repeat the success of Audi Q5 and Audi Q7 and further consolidate our leadership position in the luxury SUV segment has been reiterated. We will open the next round of bookings for 500Audi Q3’s by the end of June, 2012 and expect a similar response from our customers”, said Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India.
The Audi Q3 is a agile performer and an all-out urban vehicle. Every feature of the Audi Q3 displays state-of-the-art Audi technology – the body, the drivetrain, the chassis, the driver assistance and entertainment packaging. In addition, it’s the only sports-ute in its segment to feature the Quattro system. These traits put together for a pertinent pick for the younger buyers. The Audi Q3 positioning of “Start Young” noticeably identifies the class and segment that Audi is intending.
The German luxury carmaker has launched a unique website (http://www.audi-q3.in/) for Audi Q3 to coerce a better bond with young buyers. The website shows the “Start Young” Music Video featuring John Abraham, who is one of the numerous Bollywood celebs that drive the Audi and are evidently in love with the make and the Q life. Audi has also launched the “Start Young” Music Movement, a challenge for youth to create music videos for Audi Q3, starring themselves with exciting prizes to be won. The top three videos will be chosen through a board of judges and will be showcased to the world. The winner gets to drive a Q3 right out of the showroom and keep it for a month. First runner-up gets to meet John Abraham himself, while the top five picks will get invitation for the Audi Q3 consumer drives. Audi has also set off the brand’s Youtube channel (youtube.com/audiindia), where visitors can check out the clips related to the brand. In addition, the newest edition of Audi Magazine is being launched in a printed and iPad format.
“Audi continues to be a favorite with the young and young at heart, which is evident from our huge fan base on social media. We have more than 6,80,000 fans on our Facebook page with about 38,000 discussions happening on an average. We have expanded our horizon and ventured into new areas with Music video, strong brand channels, booking parties at our showrooms and now a big-scale customer drive event. This exercise has created a strong connect with our brand enthusiasts and we look forward to have many more interesting conversations with our customers with the addition of special Audi Q3 website and Youtube channel.”, added Mr. Perschke.
Audi perseveres the market dominance in the luxury SUV category of India with Audi Q5 and Audi Q7 and in the sports car segment with Audi R8, Audi R8 Spyder, Audi RS5 and the recently launched Audi TT Coupe.
Audi sustained performance effectively in India as it set off a sale of 451 units in May 2012 – an increase of 10.5 per cent over the same period last year (May 2011: 408 units). The German luxury carmaker improved by 37 per cent during January to May 2012, delivering 3,282 cars against the 2,394 cars sold during the same time in 2011.
Audi has big plans in India, eyeing to expand its current dealership network from 19 to 25 by the end of 2012. Audi newly launched dealerships in Coimbatore, Delhi West Nagpur and its second in Madhya Pradesh in Bhopal. In 2011, the brand with four rings launched new dealerships in Delhi South, Chennai, Ludhiana, Surat and Indore. Additional developments include Lucknow and Mumbai South among others.
