Audi RS 7 to launch in India on January 6

Audi India has announced a press conference on January 6th to launch a new model. The company's Facebook page has revealed that the model will be the RS 7. IAB readers were alerted about its impending entry last year when we spoke to Audi India's previous CEO Michael Perschke.

The RS 7 had its world premiere about the same time last year at the Detroit Motor Show. Power for the RS 7 comes from a 4.0-liter TFSI TwinTurbo V8 engine producing 560 hp at 6,700 rpm and 700 Nm of torque from 1,750 rpm. The RS 7 is capable of doing the 0-100 km/h sprint in 3.9 seconds, while the top-speed is restricted to 250 km/h. However, customers in international markets have the option of increasing this to 305 km/h.

The RS 7 will feature Audi's traditional Quattro four-wheel drive system. An 8-speed automatic transmission will send 60 percent of the power to the rear wheels, while 40 percent goes to the front. Thanks to a Cylinder On Demand (COD) system, the RS 7 achieves 10.2 km/l in the European driving cycle.

We suspect that Audi India has crossed the 10,000 units/annum sales in 2013, making it the first luxury carmaker to do so. However, rival Mercedes India is close on the heels with over 9,000 units sold last year.

In order to maintain its edge over Mercedes, Audi will be introducing the A3 Sedan (expected at the Auto Expo next month) and the refreshed A8 (launching in the second quarter of this year).