Best first quarter sales record by Audi India

2010 had already been a great start for Audi India and much has not changed since then. The firm recorded best ever sales of 778 cars for the first quarter of the year 2010 (January to March). As compared to last year’s first quarter, there has been a massive growth of 103 percent. The firm had sold 384 cars in the first quarter of 2009. With the countrywide sale of 220 cars, in the month of March 2010, the firm observed a growth of 36 percent as compared to the sales in March 2009 which was 162 cars.

The Indian line up for Audi car models include the Audi A4, the Audi A6, the Audi A8, the Audi Q5, the Audi Q7, the Audi TT and the super sports car Audi R8. These models are available across eight showrooms in the country including Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kochi. Showrooms are also set to be open in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai (West), Jaipur, Chennai, Ludhiana. Further developments may include Lucknow, Coimbatore and Nagpur.

Benoit Tiers, Managing Director, Audi India stated, “The first quarter of 2010 has seen record sales for Audi in India as we have continued to make steady growth toward achieving our progressive goals. True to our philosophy of ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’, in the coming months we will focus on enhancing the entire experience of owning a luxury automobile for our customers in the Indian market. This year, our customers can expect new avant-garde and sporty luxury models.”

Audi v/s BMW commercial wars

Remember the advertisement hoarding wars between Audi and BMW in the US that revolved around the R8 supercar? Well, it hasn't stopped there! The two German rivals are at it again, albeit with new cars this time. Audi has drawn first blood with a new commercial that highlights Audi's victory in three comparison shootouts recently conducted by the Car and Driver magazine. Further more it hits BMW where it hurts the most by stating that there is nothing wrong about finishing second in a 'friendly' competition. Sure! Let's cut the words then and watch the new video:

Autonomous Audi TTS to attempt Peaks Hill Climb

Audi will be taking part in the legendary Pikes hill climb event next year. The German automotive marquee will be attempting the course in an autonomous TTS rally car.

The TTS rally car will have fly-by-wire controls enabling it to be driven without an on-board driver while conforming to the driving style and speeds of professional drivers over a variety of road surfaces. A safety system which will shut down the car upon detecting an accident threat or loss of control situation is also under development. The car has been christened ‘Shelly’ which is the nickname of Michelle Mounton-the first woman driver to win the Pikes Peak event. She had won the event back in 1985 driving an Audi Sport Quattro and is the most successful woman rally car driver till date.

The TTS rally car has been jointly developed by Volkswagen’s electronic research lab, Stanford University and Sun Microsystems. It currently holds the unofficial record for the fastest autonomous car at 130mph! At the Pikes hill climb event, rally drivers attempt to cover a distance of 12.4 miles which includes 156 turns in the fastest time possible.