A3 cabriolet sales doing better than predicted by Audi

We got an opportunity to speak to Audi India’s big boss Mr Joe King at the launch of the new-generation TT. Joe King told us that the sales numbers of the recently launched A3 Cabriolet has surprised them, and recently he had visited Germany to ask for more units to be allotted for India as they aren’t able to meet the current demand.

The Ingolstadt-based automaker will be launching eight more products this year.

The next launch in line, is the Audi Q3 facelift, which is the company’s entry-level SUV. At the moment, the Q3 S is the only luxury vehicle in India to come with a variant with manual transmission. About 15 percent of the Q3 sales come from the manual version (on checking with King) and we could expect this variant to be sold on the facelift too.

When we asked his opinion on the luxury hatchback market, he mentioned that Audi feels that the Indian luxury mostly considers to opt for a sedan or a SUV, and the chances of buying a hatchback are very remote. All the other luxury players expect Audi have introduced their luxury hatchback in India.

Audi has the A3 hatchback, but it has so far refrained from introducing it in India.

Audi will be getting the S3, the performance of the A3, to India sometime this year. Audi’s 10 launches for this year also includes the facelift version of the A6 and A7, while the new-generation Q7 should be made available by this festive season. This is the flagship SUV for Audi.

The Ingolstadt-based automaker looks at continuing to be the leader for the luxury segment even for this year.