Audi A3 and A4 could get manual transmissions

German luxury carmaker Audi, is considering launching manual transmission variants of the A3 and A4 sedans in India.

At present, the A3 and A4 are available with automatic transmissions only. However, the company believes that in India, there is a strong demand for manual variants. The Q3 SUV accounts for 25-30% of Audi's sales in the country. Of that, about 10-12% comes from the manual version of the car.

The Q3 manual cost about Rs. 3 lakh less than the automatic. The A3 and A4 could get the Q3's MQ 350 6-speed manual transmission. They are also likely to be priced lower than their automatic siblings.

If the A3 and A4 are launched with manual transmissions, it will make them the only ones in their respective segments. Audi's competitors, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, have revealed that they have no plans to launch manual versions of their cars in India. 

At the same time, Audi has revealed that it does not plan to launch a hatchback to rival the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and BMW 1-Series.

Source: ET Auto