Audi keen to be leader in Indian luxury market

Launches Audi A8 L sedan priced at Rs.1.075 crore (ex-showroom Maharashtra)

German luxury car maker Audi is on track to achieve its target of 8,000 unit sales in 2012 in India and, in fact, expects to beat it.

Speaking at the launch of Audi’s latest offering for India, the Audi A8 L 4.2 TDi, Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India, said, “We have always said we will be the leading luxury car manufacturer in India by 2015 and we now feel that could be achieved by 2014.”

For the six months ended June 2012, the company sold 4,680 units, a 49 per cent growth over the year-ago period while in July, it sold 680 units, a 98 per cent jump over July 2011.

The Audi A8 L sedan launched on Friday has a 4.2 litre TDI V8 engine and is priced at Rs.1.075 crore (ex-showroom Maharashtra). It has an aluminium body and luxury interiors, assistance and safety systems, including optional night vision assistant and optional Bang & Olufsen sound system with rear seat entertainment.

“The growth in the first-half of 2012 puts India among the top three markets for Audi. We are now number two in the Indian luxury car market which offers huge long-term growth potential. We have already been the leader in China for 20 years.”

Mr. Perschke said there was no change in Audi’s strategy for India.

“It is working very well for us. Last year, we launched five products here and this year already we have introduced five more.” Growth for Audi India came from the Audi A6, Audi A4 and the Audi Q3, which was launched in June. It saw 500 bookings in five days and Audi delivered 200 in June and according to the Audi India head, 200 more will be delivered this month and the next due to supply constraints.

The company expects to sell 400-450 units of A8 this year. “We will start assembling Q7 at end-2012 and we expect to sell a minimum of 1000-1500 units per annum. We will also start assembling the Q3 and have a pipeline of 2-3 more products over the next 18-24 months.”

He said that in terms of manpower, the company has around 600 employees but that number will cross 700 by December 2012.