It is that time of the year, the ‘festive season’, when every manufacturer tries to woo the customers with the best of their offerings in their lineup. Following are the all-new luxury vehicles which will set the Indian roads on fire around Diwali this year:-
Audi A6
The current generation Audi A6 has been too long in the tooth now. And with the traditional rivals like Mercedes Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series moving ahead swiftly with their respective latest generation models, there is a desperate need for the new generation Audi A6 to enter India now.
Audi has answered the prayers of its loyalists, and the all-new A6, which is already on sale in many global markets, will arrive in India in the month of October. The all-new model is not only larger in terms of dimensions, but also comes with a slew of new features and visual changes.
The new Audi A6 will be launched in two trim levels – Sport and S-Line. While the Sport trim will come with 18-inch 5-arm alloy wheels, LED headlamps and tail lamps, twin leather upholstery, the S-Line trim will be adorned with 19-inch machined 5-twin spoke alloy wheels, Matrix LED headlamps with dynamic turn indicators, Alcantara upholstery and sport suspension.
The larger hexagonal chrome grille, sleeker LED tail lamps, fully digital virtual cockpit and MMI navigation and MMI infotainment system with twin touchscreens, haptic and acoustic feedback is common to both the trims of the all-new Audi A6. Both the variants will have different designs for the fog lamp inserts and the bumpers, however an all-black interior theme with silver inserts will be common to both.
The new generation Audi A6 will be launched with two engine options – 2.0L TFSI petrol and 2.0L TDI diesel. The 2.0-litre petrol engine pumps out 250 PS of power and 370 Nm of torque, while the 2.0-litre diesel engine belts out 206 PS of power and 400 Nm of torque. The all-new Audi A6 will soldier against the Mercedes Benz E-Class, BMW 5-Series, Volvo S80 and Jaguar XF.
Porsche Cayenne Coupe
The Cayenne SUV has been one massively popular model for Porsche, so much so that it has become the highest selling model for the German marque in all these years. The company is already on a roll with very few but significant launches in recent times, one of which is the Cayenne Coupe.
Just like the X6 positioned above the X5 as a more stylish looking coupe version, the Cayenne Coupe shares its mechanical and many visual components with the standard Cayenne SUV. The most significant change happen towards the rear, where the roofline takes a dramatic curvy shape and the rear windscreen is sharply raked to give it a more exotic and wonderful coupe-ish stance. The side profile can be customised with 16 different types of alloy wheels to choose from.
The interior of the Porsche Cayenne Coupe has been lifted straight off from the Porsche Cayenne, with a round steering wheel and sporty instrument console with centrally located tachometer – typically Porsche. The centre console here is dominated by a large rectangular touchscreen infotainment system and there's an aircraft-inspired transmission tunnel, which also houses buttons for the climate control.
Porsche has listed the Cayenne Coupe in India in four variants: standard, E-Hybrid, Turbo and Turbo S E-Hybrid. However, we don't expect all of them to be available right from launch. Below are their specs:
- Cayenne Coupe - 3.0L turbocharged petrol engine (340 PS/450 Nm), 8-speed AT, AWD system, 0-100 km/h acceleration time (with Sport Chrono Package) of 6.0 seconds, top speed of 243 km/h
- Cayenne Coupe E-Hybrid - 3.0L turbocharged petrol engine + electric motor (462 PS/700 Nm), 8-speed AT, AWD system, 0-100 km/h acceleration time (with Sport Chrono Package) of 5.1 km/h, top speed of 253 km/h, pure electric range (EAER) of 32-36 km, electrical top speed of 135 km/h
- Cayenne Turbo - 4.0L twin-turbo petrol engine (550 PS/770 Nm), 8-speed AT, AWD system, 0-100 km/h acceleration time (with Sport Chrono Package) of 3.9 seconds, top speed of 286 km/h
- Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid - 4.0L twin-turbo petrol engine + electric motor (680 PS/700 Nm), 8-speed AT, AWD, 0-100 km/h acceleration time (with Sport Chrono Package) of 3.8 seconds, top speed of 295 km/h, pure electric range (EAER) of 31-32 km, electrical top speed of 135 km/h
The Porsche Cayenne Coupe will compete with the BMW X6 and the Mercedes GLE in India.
Mercedes G-Class diesel
Currently, the only Mercedes G-Class on sale in India is the high-performance G 63 from Mercedes-AMG. A steep INR 2.19 crore (ex-showroom) price tag makes the toughest Mercedes-Benz SUV inaccessible for many aspiring customers, but not for long. Soon, the standard Mercedes G-Class will become available in India, that too in the G 350 d diesel engine variant. It should be priced somewhere between INR 1.25-1.50 crore (ex-showroom).
The Mercedes G 350 d's main talking point is its OM 656 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder diesel engine that makes it the most efficient "G" so far. This engine produces 286 PS at 3,400-4,600 rpm and 600 Nm of torque at 1,200-3,200 rpm. The 9G-TRONIC 9-speed automatic transmission and the 4MATIC all-wheel drive system are standard in this configuration. In Germany, its fuel consumption rating is 9.8-9.6 L/100 km, which converts to a fuel economy rating of 10.20 km/l-10.42 km/l.
