Audi India MD Benoit Tiers with the new Audi R8 in New Delhi on Friday. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, Nov. 7: German luxury car manufacturer Audi today launched its sports car in India —the Audi R8 — priced at Rs 1.17 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Like most other Audi models in India, the sports car, sporting a 4.2-litre V8-FSI petrol engine, is imported from Germany.

The company aims to sell 15 units within this calendar year. Bookings had started in June.

Benoit Tiers, managing director of Audi India, said the company had sold 4,000 units of the R8 worldwide in the last 10 months. “This is about 25 per cent higher than our expectations,” he said.

The 420-horsepower vehicle has permanent all-wheel drive and an aluminium frame. The car will compete with the Porsche Carrera S, which costs Rs 86 lakh.

In India, Audi manufactures the A4 and A6 at its assembly plant in Aurangabad. The Audi A8, sports utility vehicle Q7 and the Audi TT coupe are imported.

Audi, which has dealers in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Chennai and Kochi, plans to open five more next year, including one in Calcutta. The company has sold 884 units between January and October this year against 292 units last year. It aims to sell about 1,000 units in the next calendar year.

According to sources, the company is gearing up to launch its crossover utility vehicle— the Q5 — by early next year. Audi is betting on the huge demand for the Q5 from emerging markets such as Russia and India.