NEW DELHI: Volkswagen’s luxury car brand Audi, which is no longer the top carmaker in India, will add more petrol cars to its portfolio.
The firm also took this step in the wake of rising uncertainty over diesel cars in Delhi.
Nearly 98% of the vehicles Audi has sold run on diesel. It also has the oldest fleet of cars. “By next year, we will add many new products,” said Joe King, head of Audi India.
Audi, which was the number one carmaker in 2013 and 2014, has lost out to German rival Mercedes-Benz in India.
With the price difference between petrol and diesel decreasing, King is looking to have a larger portfolio of petrol cars by next year.
Audi launched a new A4 sedan with a petrol variant, boasting of a mileage of 17.8km, on Thursday.
Mercedes, too, is launching petrol cars. “We see a slow but steady growth towards a 30% product portfolio,” said Roland S Folger, managing director of Mercedes-Benz India.
But the real shift will be with electric cars. “We will have to work on it right now,” said King.
{{/usCountry}}But the real shift will be with electric cars. “We will have to work on it right now,” said King.
{{/usCountry}}Audi will launch a few electric, not hybrid, models before 2020. “In the short term, every model will not have an electric variant… But in the next 10 years, the portfolio of electric vehicles will grow rapidly,” King said.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) predicts that by 2022, the price of electric cars will be lower than conventional cars.
Meanwhile, the government claims to have electric cars in every household by 2030. This would require incentives and subsidies for carmakers initially. In Germany, an electric car buyer gets $4,500 from the government, sharing half the cost.
Folger said Mercedes, too, had these technologies ready, and will eventually bring them to India.
Audi, though, isn’t the first company to plan an electric car for India. Japanese auto major Nissan has started evaluating plans to bring its best-selling Leaf electric car here to test the India market. Nissan will also bring a bunch of hybrid vehicles.