End of an Era : Audi India has officially pulled the plug on the A8 L and RS 5 Sportback. Due to being CBUs, both the models are highly pricey. The A8 L was priced at Rs 1.63 crore (ex-showroom), the RS 5 Sportback from Rs 1.13 crore (ex-showroom). Which means today Audi has no flag ship sedan in their line up and no RS ICE in the lineup besides the RSQ8. The two cars were taken down from Audi India’s official website.
The rival of the A8 L was the Mercedes Benz S-Class and even the BMW 7-Series are performing quite well in the luxury segment. Single specification: 3.0L turbocharged V6 | 340 bhp | A8 L It was a very underrated car for the Indian market. There is a new Audi A8 in development, which is expected to be EV-only, but that’s a few years away.
The even sadder part, however, is the demise of the Audi RS 5 Sportback. It was a brilliant sports car but an updated A5 has already been launched internationally so we expect the same to happen to the Indian market as well. The new A5 also takes out the A4 so the A4 will surely be next as we are already hurrying an all electric A4. The only RS product on sale now in the Indian market is the Audi RSQ8. The RS 5 Sportback came with a 2.9L twin-turbocharged V6 engine that was making 450 bhp. The RS 5 Sportback was priced against the BMW M4 and also the Mercedes Benz C43 AMG.
Most probably a Miles RS5 would be a Wagon but we are yet to see if that comes to India. However, there’s quite a popularity of the Audi S5 here in the Indian market and if the new generation does make its way to Indian shores in the coming months, this would be a better buy.