The Indian division of Audi has stated that it aims to boost its sales in the domestic market by more than 45% in 2012. In regards to the same, it has launched its Audi CarLife-Advance programme in the country. Under this initiative, the manufacturer provides car financing, extended warranty as well as insurance and service plans.
Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India, commented, "Our target this year is to sell over 8,000 units and we are confident we will be able to achieve it. Last year, we sold 5,511 units."
He is quite sure about attaining this feat even though the prices of all luxury cars were increased due to a hike in excise and import duties announced in Union Budget 2012. About this, Perschke stated, "Our products, which are assembled in India have seen a price hike at an average of 3 per cent, while those imported as completely built units have become costlier by 13 per cent."
On Audi CarLife-Advance, he said, "While we can't say that this will give us incremental sales immediately, but it will give customers complete peace of mind from a service and EMI point of view. We want to create more customer loyalty.”
A4, A6 and Q5 models, which are assembled locally, are offered by Audi in India between Rs. 27.85 and 47.68 lacs in the country. Conversely, Audi TT, Q7, RS5, R8 and R8 Spyder, which are imported as Completely Built Units (CBUs), are positioned between the price points of Rs. 49.48 lacs and 1.7 crores. In the first four months of 2012, the German car maker rolled out 2,831 units as compared to 1,986 cars during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 43 per cent.
In order to boost sales, the company is relying on volume-generating models like A4, whose facelifted version was rolled out in May 2012 in India, as well as Q3, which will hit the roads in June. Perschke continued, "Moreover, we are also expanding the Audi network to 25 this year from 15 and this will give us the opportunity to capture more customers."
While talking about the company's goal of attaining the pole position in the Indian luxury car segment by the year 2015, Perschke said that things are going according to plan. It is hard to judge the gap between the three German car makers (Audi, Mercedes Benz and BMW) in India is at present, but Audi gained the second spot in sales from Mercedes Benz during the first quarter of 2012. The three manufacturers have not released their sales figures since the past one year owing to anti-trust issues prevalent in Europe.
