Volkswagen Group has had a torrid few years in India and across the world thanks to the ‘Dieselgate’ imbroglio. But 2020 is a big year for the carmaker and it starts with luxury brand Audi leading the charge with the Q8 SUV

The first two decades of the 21st century have been kind to Dubai. From a relatively sleepy little town, it is now the symbol of the modern metropolis, and let alone its airport, which is now the greatest international hub in the world. Dubai boasts some of the most stunning architectural marvels in the world, including the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building on the planet. It was in the shadow of this spire that we began our drive of Audi’s latest offering, the new Q8. And we took it to the desert. In fact, there isn’t much desert near the city anymore and the Dubai Desert Conservation Area is a good 90 minutes of fast driving outside the city.

But now, the car. First things first, dispel any notion that the Q8 is larger than the Q7. It is not. In fact, while it shares the platform with the older SUV, it is shorter than the Q7 and sits lower as well. Coupled with its sloping roofline, this is a SUV that puts the “sports” back into the name. It is in a sense, competing with the BMW X6 and Range Rover Sport. When it launches in India on January 15, it will set you back a pretty penny at Rs 1.5 crore.

For that kind of money, you should get a lot. And you do. The Q8 we drove in Dubai was in S-Line specification and our particular car came with beautiful 22-inch wheels, and it must be said that despite such large wheels and thin tyres, particularly on a SUV, on some pretty rough stretches of the road, the Q8 rode masterfully. I would not want to take this car for hardcore off-roading but it can deal with bad roads. Although in India Trim, it will most likely come with 18-inch wheels as standard and possibly 19 and 20-inch wheels are available as an option.

The Q8, however, is not a standard car and Balbir Singh Dhillon, the new honcho at Audi India, tells me that the Q8 will be completely customisable, provide a huge choice of exterior colours with over eight interior colour options with the ability to mix and match wood veneer inlays or even carbon fibre ones. “This car will be driven,” says Dhillon and adds, “And owners who drive themselves will want their cars to say something about them. We give them that option. Of course, there will be a stock car as well.”

Ergo, the Q8 will not be a big seller but Dhillon and the marketing folks at Audi are seriously hoping that the Q8 will not be as rare as the herd of Oryx that we crossed in the desert. The Oryx, an antelope indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula, once common across the Arabia, now survives only in small protected zones. Much like how Audi has been hunted down in the past three years by its German rivals BMW and Mercedes. That’s because the German carmaker and its parent, Volkswagen, are still paying the bill from the fiasco of the Dieselgate crisis, a reminder of which are the approximately half-million Audi and Volkswagen diesel cars parked in lots across the United States which were bought back at immense cost and that is before the huge fines. In fact, Audi’s man at the helm during the crisis was arrested for his role in it.

So it isn’t surprising that the Q8, when it comes to India, will be available with only a petrol engine, much like the recently launched next-generation A6 luxury sedan. The Q8, as far as we know for the time being, will be equipped in 55TFSI trim. While you cannot ask anyone to make sense of how the German manufacturers name their products anymore, what this means is that this three-litre V6 petrol engine will produce 340 horsepower, which, I can assure you, propels the car forward very fast. Of course, there is something else about Dubai that you must know, it is the land of speed cameras and if you exceed the (generous) limits, you can be fined a fair bit. So there was no finding out of how fast the Q8 is but it can go pretty fast. For the time being, this is the peppiest and most fun sporty and large SUV out there. It might be eclipsed by the potential arrival later this year of the RS version of the Q8 which borrows the 600 horsepower motor from the RS6 but that is another story for another time.

Dhillon did admit that there are a class of Audi buyers who love diesel cars and he wanted to assure them that Audi will be bringing in some diesel options later this year. But come April 1, 2020, Audi, alongside other manufacturers including Maruti-Suzuki, will not be selling diesel vehicles in their line-up thanks to the regulation around Bharat Stage 6 emission norms. To be fair, manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and even Hyundai and Kia have said that they will make their diesels available in BS6 but there is a significant price issue to meet BS6 emission norms. Diesel vehicles need all sorts of new filters and even spray the exhaust with something called ‘Ad-Blue’, which in essence is a mixture of water and urea. Audi will most likely bring in a two-litre BS6 compatible diesel later in the year.

But Audi is just the tip of the spear for Volkswagen Group in India for 2020. The company, now under the leadership of Skoda, which frankly it should always have been, is positioning 2020 as a make-or-break year for itself. There are some vital new launches from the Skoda and Volkswagen stable coming later in the year and one hopes that this fresh line-up will help all the brands of the carmakers. Other than Lamborghini and Porsche, whose sales are up (Weak economy? What weak economy?).