Audi recently launched the new 8th generation A6 sedan, and it has arrived only with a petrol engine. The German luxury car brand also introduced an updated A4, that also with a petrol engine only at the moment. Now, reports suggest that Audi is transitioning towards the upcoming BSVI emission norms and by April 2020, all Audi cars sold in India will be petrol-only. Diesel cars available at the moment will be axed. So if you are a fan of Audi diesels, this is the time to rush to the nearest showroom and bring one home.
Audi is betting big on petrol engines along with hybrid technology and other fuel options. There is no concrete decision on having BS6 compliant diesel cars in India at the moment, but they are not completely ruled out either. Audi also plans to bring to India plug-in hybrid models. But for sure, the upcoming car launches are going to be petrol and electric options.
Top official at Audi was quoted to be mimicking decisions made my mass market car manufacturers in India like Maruti Suzuki and Renault which say that they will not be selling diesel cars with BS6 engines and from April 2020, the line-up would be petrol-only. Audi globally is trying to move away from diesels in favour of hybrid and electric cars. Mild-hybrids and plug-in hybrids would be interesting products for the nearest future before going all-electric.
Supporting car manufacturers is the government decision that 2,500 cars can be imported / year without the need of homologation. So the unique propositions would be brought in this way. Audi said that they don’t have a diesel engine option of cars like Q7 with a BS6 compliance.
Audi mentioned that luxury cars we close to 100% diesels a few years back, but now nearly 30-35% sales come from petrol options. But that is still a significant market share in the favour of oil-burners.