Undisputedly it has to be agreed that the quality of life in the urban regions has gone up in India. Fat pay checks offered by IT and MNCs in our country has led to a rush in demand of premium vehicles; and has risen to such an extent that companies have set up their units here to meet the market requirement; also cutting down the cost of vehicles. India has been a very important market for premium and luxury car makers for a few years and our country is set to become one of the major consumers of expensive cars.
When one uses the term premium car, there are just three companies that are always on top of the mind which includes Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. Mercedes-Benz India has its footprints across all the segments namely top-end luxury cars, SUV segment and compact cars. The launch of the A-Class was scheduled to target the mass chunk of the sub-continent population and it did perform well in the market for the Germans. The company has seen a constant demand for the A-Class since its launch and is expected to continue in the future as well.
Mercedes-Benz India has reported an increment of 21% in its sales in the first quarter of 2014. The German company sold 2554 units with major contribution coming from the A-Class and was supplemented by the GL-Class. The company retains the throne of the luxury car segment and strengthens its position further with the huge demand of the recently launched S-Class. Though manufactured locally, MLs and GLs are the other two classes which are in demand, prompting for a long waiting period.
Audi has grown substantially in the last few years beating BMW and Mercedes-Benz to grab the crown in the luxury segment, Audi India is a lap ahead of its competitors. The company has achieved a hat-trick of being the customers pet because of its sales, customer satisfaction and the number of models which the company has in the Indian market. It is all well known to you that Audi India became the first luxury car manufacturer to sell 10,000 units in a financial year as well as in a calendar year.
The sales chart of Audi India is in its best shape as the company has got some mind boggling figures. Rewinding the dates; in March 2014, Audi India recorded the best ever monthly sales of the company with 1404 units rolling out of showrooms. Then, the company reported the best ever quarterly sales with 2740 Audis sold between January and March 2014. Wait. We are yet to finish.
Audi India finally reported the 2013-14 fiscal year as its best ever financial year by selling 10,126 units. The four ring automaker made a blasting entry in 2014 by launching the Audi RS7 and now, with the launch of the A3 sedan in the pipeline, the company is eyeing to penetrate further into its competitors. Recently, Audi expanded its network by opening new showrooms in Visakhapatnam, Udaipur and Nashik. The Ingolstadt based automaker is aiming to increase its customer reach by increasing its dealership network to 40 in the near future.
