AUDI R8 to be launched in oct-november!!!

German luxury car manufacturer Audi would launch its acclaimed sports car R8 in India in October-November as it seeks to build the brand in this market, a top official of Audi India said.

"We will launch R8 in October-November in the last quarter. We already have the first order (in India)', Audi India's Vice-President marketing, Martin Birkner, told PTI here.

Audi sold 350 cars in India 2007 calender year and has a target to nearly triple that number, mainly driven by A4 sedan that it launched in India this month.

"As we target sales of 1,000 cars in India by the end of this year, the new Audi A4 will be a crucial product to help us achieve this goal", Birkner said.

The Audi model range in India is: A8, Q7, A6, A4 and TT.

He said Audi expects to sell 1000 units of A4 in vhe first 12 months of its launch, indicating that the sedan would be a main driver of growth for the company in the near term.

The company sold 470 cars in the January-June period of this year and "with Audi A4 will definitely cross the 1,000-mark".

Audi builds its A6 model at its Aurangabad assembly plant on a completely knocked down unit and plans to do the same with A4, which is currently being imported, by October.

The prices of the new Audi A4 start at Rs 29 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai wihtout C.S.T., transportation etc).

According to Birkner, the company's small car A3 is not an option (launch) for India "at the moment".