Audi India plans to more than treble sales in two years

Audi AG expects the India arm to more than treble its sales volumes over the next couple of years on the back of multiple launches, better availability of semiconductors and a strong demand for luxury cars, Andre Konsbruck, VP sales overseas, Audi AG, told ET. Konsbruck also expects India’s luxury car market-which has remained range bound in the past decade – to touch the 100,000-unit mark over the next 10 years. “We will do at least 14,000 units in the next couple of years (in ( India) if the market remains b stable and the economic growth continues,” Konsbruck said. Audi India delivered 4,187 units in 2022, up 27% year-on-year Currently, Audi is not compe- ting in the full range of the pre- mium market because it exited the diesel segment which still accounts for 40% of the premi- um market, he said. This, he be lieves, is anyway set to change with electrification trend. “Di- esel will disappear gradually, its share has already halved from the high of 80%,” he said. As a run up to BSVI emission norms which took effect from 1 April 2020, Audi pulled the plug on diesel cars in India even as its rivals and BMW continue to sell diesel variants. It has been focusing on petrol and battery electric vehicle (BEV). According to Kons- bruck, Audi’s current volume is constrained by supplies. “It’s not the real starting base as we could have done much more. Dealers are asking for more,” he said. Balbir Singh Dhillon, head Audi India, said all the initiati- ves taken by the company du- ring the pandemic for sustai- nable growth in the market has started paying off and there won’t be any looking back now.

“We looked inwards and un-dertook a holistic approach,” he said, alluding to strengthe- ning the dealer network and ta- king the “bold decision” of ex- iting the diesel segment and strengthening the processes and systems. For the Volkswagen Group company, which entered Indi- a’s luxury car market in 2009, the innings has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. It delivered 10,857 cars in 2014 and a record 11,192 units in 2015. Subsequently, it lost the pole position to Mercedes In- dia and BMW India. Its sales started tumbling from 2016, touching a low of 1,693 units in 2020. The high paced growth Audi now expects will be particu- larly led by the high-end C and D segments of the luxury car market, said Singh. The model launch plans for India in 2023 includes the Q3 Sportback, top-of-the-line Q8 e-tron, and facelifts of 2-3 mo- re models.