Smooth Ride Podcast: Audi starts EV journey in India with e-tron, to bring in slew of launches in 2021
Episode 52, Jul 06, 2021, 12:12 PM
India's luxury car buyers haven't had too many choices to go electric so far, but that seems to be changing fast. German luxury carmaker Audi's all-electric SUV e-tron will make its India debut this month. It's only the third luxury electric car in the Indian market and Audi's first green offering in the country.
At a time when India is just warming up to EVs, there is a lot riding on the first models that hit the market. Not only will they set perception, but also set expectations going forward, like how soon will they go mainstream and whether will customers find value in these pricey cars.
At a handsome 8-digit price, the e-tron will expand the market in which Mercedes Benz (the EQC) and Jaguar (i-Pace) are the sole players so far.
In this episode of the Smooth Ride podcast, Audi India Head, Balbir Dhillon, tells CNBC-TV18's Alisha Sachdev that this is only the start of the company's electric journey.
"At least four more e-tron models will be launched in the Indian market, and all of them will deliver an experience that customers have come to expect out of an Audi SUV," he said.
"Whatever a customer expects from an Audi, expects from an SUV is also going to be present in this car, which is very critical for us. Whether it is drivability, experience, high torque, comfort of sitting in the passenger seats of the car, performance on-road, off-road (the car is Quattro) and even on the track… and we will give 11kW chargers which the car, which is also capable of DC charging," Dhillon said and added that the car is primed for Indian buyers and Indian roads.
Tune in to the Smooth Ride podcast for more details on the range, charging solutions, and other features of the Audi e-tron.
At a time when India is just warming up to EVs, there is a lot riding on the first models that hit the market. Not only will they set perception, but also set expectations going forward, like how soon will they go mainstream and whether will customers find value in these pricey cars.
At a handsome 8-digit price, the e-tron will expand the market in which Mercedes Benz (the EQC) and Jaguar (i-Pace) are the sole players so far.
In this episode of the Smooth Ride podcast, Audi India Head, Balbir Dhillon, tells CNBC-TV18's Alisha Sachdev that this is only the start of the company's electric journey.
"At least four more e-tron models will be launched in the Indian market, and all of them will deliver an experience that customers have come to expect out of an Audi SUV," he said.
"Whatever a customer expects from an Audi, expects from an SUV is also going to be present in this car, which is very critical for us. Whether it is drivability, experience, high torque, comfort of sitting in the passenger seats of the car, performance on-road, off-road (the car is Quattro) and even on the track… and we will give 11kW chargers which the car, which is also capable of DC charging," Dhillon said and added that the car is primed for Indian buyers and Indian roads.
Tune in to the Smooth Ride podcast for more details on the range, charging solutions, and other features of the Audi e-tron.