We plan to launch the car in India by December. We will launch it initially with a range of petrol engines (4.2 V8 and 6.0 W12) with the diesels following suit.

On the Q7

We are happy with the response by the Indian market. Currently, we sell about 600-odd units a year and we have the best selling product in its segment. In the recent months, due to the shift to Euro-IV we had to discontinue certain engines (the 3.0 TDI, the 4.2 V8 petrol and the 3.6 V8 petrol), but we've brought the 3.0 TDI back since it is now Euro IV ready. The response for the 4.2 TDI V8 has been phenomenal, part in thanks to our introductory pricing as well. We now offer both cars with the eight-speed automatic gearbox and these changes should make it sell even better

On the Q7's assembly plans

We have no plans to do that. The product is in the middle of its model lifecycle and even if sales rise to say a 1000 units a year, it means about 3000 units for the next three years until the next generation model is out. We don't think it makes economic sense.

On whether Quattro division models can make it to India

We currently sell only the R8 from the Quattro division . Yes, we do have models like the RS5 and RS6 and they do their job of attracting attention but they have limited appeal. The point being, we can probably sell, say 20 cars in the first year, but after that sales tend to wear down to maybe a handful (cue, the R8 - first year 15 units, next year 20 and this year about 10-11 units). We have to make investments at the dealer level, train people and manage inventories which at these volumes is hard to justify.

On the A7 for India

We will make specific announcements on that in due course. Yes, it is being considered for India.

On the Audi Q3 (Audi's baby SUV)

It will be a 2012 model year car, and will be launched sometime next year (we think Frankfurt Motor Show, perhaps). It is an A-segment car for us and pricing is key. We will be looking at the BMW X1's launch and pricing here in India keenly (BMW will launch the X1 in December this year) and then decide on our own strategy for the model. CKD operations are most likely for it.