Sports car Audi TT costs Rs 48.36 Lakh launched

NEW DELHI: German luxury car maker Audi on Friday launched its sports car TT in India, priced at Rs 48.36 Lakh (ex showroom). The company will start selling the car from June this year and it will be sold as a completely built unit (CBU). “We are already a major player in the premium sports segment and I am confi dent that the introduction of the Audi TT will further help us consolidate our leadership position in the sports car segment in the country,” Audi India Head Michael Perschke said. The company has announced the price taking into consideration of the 15 per cent hike in customs duty in the Budget for 2012- 13, he added. “As this segment is a very niche one, so we are not expecting a very large volume. The total size of this premium sports car market is 200-250 units per year. As we will start despatching the car in the middle of this year, we are hopeful of selling 25-35 units in 2012,” Perschke said. The company is expecting to sell over 50 units of the TT Coupe in the next year, he added. The company is present in the premium sports car category with models like R8, R8 Spyder and RS5. The new TT is powered by a 2.0 TFSI engine that can touch a speed of 100 km per hour in just 5.6 seconds. Early this week, Audi India has raised prices of its entire range of products in India by up to 14 percent due to hike in excise and customs duties in the Budget. In February this year, the company’s sales in India increased by 33.33 per cent to 600 units from 450 units in the same month last year. The company had earlier announced a sales target of 8,000 units for India for 2012 compared to 5,511 units that it had sold in 2011. Audi India, a part of the European auto major Volkswagen Group, sells various models in India such as premium sedans A4, A6 and A8, sports utility vehicles Q5 and Q7, and sports cars RS5 Coupe, R8 and R8 Spyder.