New Delhi, June 19: German car maker Audi, which plans to introduce an electric vehicle every year globally, is looking at India as a potential market for battery-operated luxury cars.

Audi India head Joe King believes plug-in hybrids - cars using rechargeable batteries instead of fuel - can be "a much bigger and better solution for India" and maintains that the current ban on diesel vehicles is an interim solution to the problem of such cars damaging the environment.

"We believe there is a huge potential for India to jump to the lead in terms of e-mobility. We would welcome a long-term focus to see what could be done together with the industry and the government, and how realistically, a road map could be put in place to move to electrification of mobility," King told The Telegraph.

Industry insiders said Audi could be looking to introduce its A3 Sportback e-tron. However, there is no official confirmation.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had banned diesel cars and SUVs with an engine capacity over 2000cc in the Delhi-NCR region to protect the capital's air. The order impacted the sales of Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Toyota, which had many diesel models, and forced them to market more petrol and electric vehicles.

Earlier this month, Mercedes launched its latest GLC offroader in a petrol version, while homegrown SUV maker Mahindra & Mahindra launched an electric Verito sedan.

Roland S. Folger, head of Mercedes-Benz India, recently told this paper that the company was eagerly awaiting the Bharat Stage VI (BSVI) emission norms to introduce the hybrid version of the GLC. BMW has also launched its i8 hybrid sports car in the country.

Tesla Model 3, scheduled to arrive in the country next year, is also expected to stoke competition in the electric car segment.

"There is a lot of investment going on globally into battery electric fields. I think this is a perfect market for battery electric fields. We would be very happy to discuss it with the government. Of course, there is some infrastructure that needs to be built. But we are happy to work with the government on a longer-term perspective," King said.

Audi, which will complete a decade in India next year, is set to launch several models over the next few months. The company sold 11,192 units in India last year.