New Delhi: The German luxury car manufacturer, Audi, on Friday launched its award-winning super sports car Audi R8 in New Delhi. The model is priced at 11.7 million rupees and is equipped with an engine displacement of 4,163cc. The designer of the Audi said that the aluminum body and special shape were noteworthy characteristics of the model. Audi now sells Audi A4, Audi A6, Audi A8, Audi Q7 and Audi TT through twelve dealerships across the country.

          "First it is very sporty car, it's a two-seater, the engine is in the middle...of car, which makes the balance of the car easily. All sports cars from Formula-1 to R8, have engine position back...not on the front, it's behind the seat. The second thing is that it is Quattro, which means it is four-wheel drive car, which makes experience on the road extremely good. Another feature is that we have V8-FSI engine, which is a direct engine technology for 4.2 litres, with 420 Horse Power, but despite that very good fuel consumption...," said Bettina Bernhardt, General Manager, Audi India Press Communications. Audi designer said that aluminum body and special shape were noteworthy characteristics of the model. "Most important idea was to transform our race car spirit into a production on road car and for that we have captured the emotion and passion of our racing cars in this car. The foundation is the wheel orientation, aluminum body and special shape, which are very significant for Audi," said Achim Baoshibner, head of exterior design of Audi. India is "one of the components" of its Strategy 2015, which is aiming at sales of 1.5 million automobiles a year worldwide, the statement said. Audi also imports the A8, Q7 and TT models, and has said it expects to sell around 3,000 cars by 2010, when passenger vehicle sales in India are forecast to top two million units a year.   
-Nov 8, 2008