Audi India launched Audi Q7 40 TFSI Quattro whilst hinting at switching to greener fuels in the future

Diesel, the once preferred fuel for luxury carmakers in India is taking a backseat as the NCR diesel ban as well as a macro shift towards cleaner fuels is driving OEMs to tweak their product portfolio.

Audi currently has a variant mix of 70% diesel and 30% petrol which the company sees growing to 35% to 40% in 2018. The share of petrol in 2015 was a mere 10% in its overall vehicles portfolio.

Delhi-NCR saw an early switch to more petrol in 2015 itself when the Diesel ban was carried out, taking the share of petrol in that market to 50%, the company is seeing the demand for petrol growing in some unexpected markets.

“By 2020 we wish to have an equal share of 50% diesel and 50% alternative fuels which will have petrol at the minimum and hopefully at some stage, an Environmental Vehicle(EV) also,” Rahil Ansari, brand director at Audi India said at the launch of the petrol-based Audi Q7 40 TFSI Quattro.

“Surprisingly in the South, which is a strict diesel market, we are seeing a shift towards petrol taking place which is interesting,” said Ansari. The share of petrol in Mumbai is around 20%.

However, even though the company plans to set aside half of its offering strictly for alternative fuels that may include EVs also, it will wait for the charging infrastructure in India to firm up before it makes a commitment for an EV launch in the country.