This makes it Audi’s first locally assembled EV, which not only promises a potentially aggressive price point but is also a big milestone in the brand’s India strategy going forward.
11 Jul 2024 | 2853 Views | By Autocar India News Desk
The Audi Q6 e-tron will be the brand’s third EV for India and is likely to be launched here by the end of 2024. Bigger news, however, is that it will be assembled in India, from CKD kits, at the Skoda Auto-VW Aurangabad plant.
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The Audi Q6 e-tron will be the brand’s third EV for India and is likely to be launched here by the end of 2024. Bigger news, however, is that it will be assembled in India, from CKD kits, at the Skoda Auto-VW Aurangabad plant.
This makes it Audi’s first locally assembled EV, which not only promises a potentially aggressive price point but is also a big milestone in the brand’s India strategy going forward. In fact, the Q6 e-tron has been spotted undergoing testing in India, under evaluation by ARAI, before the commencement of production.
The Audi Q6 e-tron, as the name suggests, will slot in below the Q8 e-tron (Rs 1.15 crore) and above the Q4 e-tron that’s sold overseas. In India, it has no direct rivals as other luxury brands are yet to enter this segment. With local assembly of the Q6 e-tron, we expect it to have an aggressive price of around Rs 85 lakh, which again is a price point not occupied by any luxury EV in India.
We reported this in the Confidential section in the July 2024 issue of the Autocar India magazine.
Smaller luxury EVs like the BMW iX1, Mercedes EQA and EQB, and Volvo XC40 and C40 Recharge, are priced in the Rs 55 lakh-75 lakh range, while larger electric SUVs like the Q8 e-tron, Mercedes EQE SUV and BMW iX are all priced well above Rs 1 crore.
Audi has revealed a 285kW (388hp), dual-motor Quattro AWD variant with 625km of WLTP-certified range from a 100kWh battery, as well as a single-motor variant with 2WD and 240kW (326hp), which is certified for 641km of range from the same battery.
A variant with a smaller battery, around 80kWh in capacity, is also rumoured to be announced later. However, considering Audi India has found limited takers for the lower-spec 50 Quattro variant of the Q8 e-tron, we suspect it will be the higher-spec 285kW Quattro variant of the Q6 e-tron that will be launched here.
That, however, will not be the top-spec variant. Hot on the heels of the Q6 e-tron in India will be the hotter SQ6 e-tron, which is likely to be launched in early 2025.
With an estimated price of around Rs 1.1 crore and 516hp from the same dual-motor powertrain, the SQ6 e-tron will offer a lot of bang for one’s buck, and features stiffer suspension for more agile handling characteristics. Its range on the WLTP cycle is rated at 598km.
There will eventually be an even higher-performance version – the RS Q6 e-tron – with over 600hp, that will likely use the more powerful dual-permanent magnet synchronous motor setup from the Porsche Macan Turbo, though there's no word on whether it will come to India.
Next in line will likely be the Q6 Sportback e-tron, the coupé SUV derivative of the Q6 e-tron. Much like Audi’s other Sportback models, this will come at a slight premium over the equivalent SUV. And as we’ve seen with the Q8 range, due to its more aerodynamic shape, it will likely have a longer range as well.
Finally, the Q6 e-tron’s PPE platform will also spawn an A6 e-tron sedan, which will be revealed in production guise later this year, and will likely be introduced in India late in 2025. Expect this sedan to use the same powertrains as the Q6, though with the possibility of even greater range, thanks to a more aerodynamic profile.
Do note, this is not a direct replacement for the petrol A6 sedan that’s on sale today. As per Audi’s upcoming new model nomenclature, which uses even numbers for EVs and odd numbers for ICE models, the next-gen A6 petrol will become the Audi A7.