Audi India will begin assembling the 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine in India by the end of this year. The engine will be assembled at the Volkswagen facility in Chakan near Pune and will be rolled out from a single assembly line that has been specifically set for it.
Currently Audi faces stiff competition from the country’s favorite German carmaker Mercedes-Benz. With fresh plans for local assembling, the carmaker can expect to see a reduction in custom duty bill by about 10-30 per cent, which might possibly be passed onto the customers in the form of reduced prices. The localisation is also expected to bring down the waiting period to a considerable extent owing to a faster manufacturing process.
Apart from the Audi A4 and A6 sedans, the locally assembled 2.0-litre engine will be used in Volkswagen’s compact crossover Tiguan TDI and Skoda’s next gen Vision S SUV. It is also likely that the localised engine may be introduced in Skoda Octavia and Superb sedans, compact luxury crossover SUV Q5, the Volkswagen Passat and the Jetta.
The local assembling of 2.0-litre engine will help Audi to strategically price its products in India in an attempt to claim the top spot in luxury car sales in India. If the localised engine is also introduced in Skoda and Volkswagen models, the vehicles being rolled out from their production line might also sport an attractive price tag. Needless to say that customers can expect a lower maintenance cost while also reducing the time being spent in the workshops for all brands. Moreover, customers would also not have to wait for a few months as the deliveries would be managed faster.
