Burning Audi R8 Owner Demands Explanation

Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 13:11 [IST]

Audi received some bit of bad press on Monday after an INR 1.8 crore R8 sports car caught fire and was completely damaged in Mumbai. The premium carmaker which took possession of the car to investigate had stated that the car could have caught fire due to modifications done by its owner. Now the owner of the Audi R8 has written to Audi seeking an explanation for the fire.

Mr Bhavesh Thakkar, a Mumbai based construction businessman had bought the Audi R8 about an year ago. He has sent an email to Audi Germany asking for the reasons for his expensive car catching fire. He has also denied that he had made any modifications to his R8 as claimed by Audi India.

Mt Thakkar has also expressed concern about other Audi R8 owners who could be driving a car that could catch fire too. He has asked other R8 owners to get their cars checked to prevent the same fate that his car had to face. He has also said there have been other instances of an Audi R8 catching fire in Dubai and Toronto.

The super car rally in Mumbai on Sunday got all the publicity it got thanks to an Audi R8 catching fire on the Bandra-Worli sea link. Incidentally, the R8 that caught fire was not participating in the rally. The driver of the R8 was notified about his car being on fire by the participants of the super car rally. The occupants of the car came out safely after which the R8 was engulfed in flames.

Audi India chief Michale Perschke was also part of the rally and was incidentally driving an R8 too, albeit the recently launched 2013 version.

Audi India has refused to comment about Mr Thakkar's email and has added it has nothing more to add to the statement it had made on Sunday. Further Audi India has stated that it had not received any complaints about the R8 from other owners in India.