Audi is now gearing up to start local assembly of its 2.0-litre diesel engines that is used on a wide range of cars, thus resulting in lower costs and waiting periods.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW have been assembling their engines locally in partnership with Force Motors since quite some time now. Not wanting to be left behind, their arch rival Audi is also gearing up to start local assembly of its popular 2.0-litre TDI diesel engines in India. The engine will be assembled at Volkswagen Group’s plant in Chakan from the end of the year.
The engine assembly line was inaugurated in January 2015 and Volkswagen already assembles the 1.5-litre TDI diesel engine there. The 2.0-litre oil-burner is a very popular engine and it is used on a wide range of cars from the Volkswagen Group. The Volkswagen Jetta, Skoda Octavia, Yeti, Superb, Audi A4, A6, Q3 and Q5 are offered with this engine. The upcoming Volkswagen Passat and Skoda VisionS based SUV will also use this engine.
Currently, the engines are imported and thus attract higher duties. When local assembly begins, Audi will be able to cut down its duties by 10-30%. Local assembly will also mean that waiting periods for vehicles will reduce. Apart from the engines, Audi also imports gearboxes and transmissions from abroad.
The luxury market is seeing huge competition between the top 3 German automakers and Mercedes-Benz overtook Audi in 2015. Both the automakers have a huge range of products lined up to be launched this year. Mercedes is also upping its yearly capacity from 20,000 to 80,000 units so it remains to be seen whether Audi gets successful in beating the three-pointed star or not.
Audi Engines Local Assembly
– The 2.0-litre diesel engines will now be assembled at Chakan
– The engines are used on a variety of Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi cars
– Local assembly translates into lower duties
Source – MoneyControl.com