Teutonic competition for the yet to come BMW X1 and Mercedes Benz BLK: Audi Q3 India Bound?

2011 Audi Q3 based on the Audi Crossover Coupe Concept

The Audi Q3 will go into serial production in 2011 in Spain and once that happens, the cross coupe crossover from Audi to take on German rival BMW might just make just make it to Indian shores too. Now, plenty of stuff happening at Audi India seems to suggest just this. First things first, Audi India is nowhere near Mercedes Benz India and BMW India when it comes to car sales. This, despite of Audi having an excellent portfolio of world class premium cars in it’s arsenal. Audi India’s weak links have been it’s pricing and it’s brand awareness amongst the Indian premium car buying populace which is way lesser than than Mercedes Benz and BMW.

2011 Audi Q3 based on the Audi CrossCoupe Concept

Also, Audi India being the latest of the entrant amongst the German car makers is clearly not as aggressive a BMW India, which really has turned the heat on Mercedes Benz with a slew of cheaper and in many cases better products. Audi India, however has been content playing a distant number three and so far hasn’t done anything really, for it to move up and out of this position. On the other hand, rivals like BMW and Mercedes Benz are chalking out very aggressive plans to get into the INR 20-25 lakh segment with their offerings.

: BMW X1 Crossover SUV

BMW India made the first move with the BMW 320D Corporate Edition and has since then planned to bring down the BMW X1 to Indian shores later this year, and more importantly price the BMW X1 Crossover at slightly over INR 22 Lakh rupees. To counter this, Mercedes Benz India too has making all the right noises about it bringing the latest Mercedes Benz BLK Crossover based on the new MFA platform.

Mercedes Benz BLK Render

So, Audi India needs to do something and something quick to make a success of it’s Indian operations. That something could just be the Audi Q3 Crossover scheduled for a 2011 launch. This makes plenty of sense as Audi India has just kick started assembly of the Audi Q5 SUV in India and the same if done for the Audi Q3 will result in the Crossover’s price being bang in the INR 20-25 Lakh category. Also, since the Audi Q3 is based on the Volkswagen Tiguan which also might see an Indian launch shortly, shared assembly lines seem very likely. Thus, the Audi Q3 Crossover could be the next big thing for Audi India, for it to mount a very stiff challenge to both BMW and Mercedes Benz. Will Audi India bite the bullet and get back into the reckoning by launching the Q3? That, only time will tell.

2011 Audi Q3 based on the Audi CrossCoupe Concept