Luxury carmaker Audi has announced a 3% price hike across its model range in India. Mr. Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India, said, “At Audi India, we are committed to operating a sustainable business model. With rising input costs and changing Forex rates, we are required to take a price hike of up to 3% across our model range.” This shouldn’t be surprising considering that every carmaker hikes prices in the first quarter of each year.
Audi India: Recent launches
The facelifted Q7 was recently launched in two variants- Premium Plus and Technology which are priced at ₹80 lakh and ₹88.33 lakhs respectively. The new car gets subtle bits and changes that make it look meaner and more aggressive. At the front, we see a new octagonal grille with horizontal and vertical slats, with an all-around chrome treatment. The headlamps are much sharper and edgy-looking. The car gets a grey diffuser L-shaped indents on the sides and a mesh grille.
Even the bonnet now features more solid character lines. Along the side, we get to see slim wheel arches and side skid plates all covered in grey. The car now rides on much larger 19-inch wheels as standard, with low-profile rubber stretched over them. Around the back, we see new slim LED taillights and a chrome strip running along the boot lid. The rear diffuser offers a new design as well. The interior gets a new dashboard, with Audi’s twin touchscreen infotainment system featuring a 10.1-inch main screen and an 8.6-inch side screen for climate control. It also gets a 12.3-inch virtual cockpit and a flat-bottom sports steering wheel.
The dashboard and the center console get a dual-tone finish in piano black and brushed aluminum, and it also gets ambient lighting. It gets a panoramic sunroof, four-zone climate control, and an electric tailgate. The major highlight of the car rests under the hood. The Q7 facelift is powered by a 3.0L turbocharged V6 petrol engine coupled with a 48V mild-hybrid system. This power unit is mated to an 8-Speed automatic transmission. The car produces 340HP of power and 500Nm of torque. Power is put down by all four wheels thanks to the Quattro AWD system. The company also claims that the car has an all-electric range of 43Km, because of the hybrid system.