Audi targets pole position in premium segment of Indian market any time soon

Audi, one of the leading German auto makers, is looking ahead to outpace its country cousin BMW in the Indian auto market, said the company's Managing Director Michael Perschke. After overtaking the indigenous auto maker Mercedes-Benz, six months back, the brand with four rings is now planning to grab the dominant stand by replacing BMW as both the auto makers almost sells an average of 750 vehicles in the domestic luxury car market.

Industry experts also believe that Audi will climb the ladder any time soon, as the car maker has framed aggressive strategies for the Indian market. On this, the company has to say that it will target the leadership in 2015; however Perschke affirmed that getting over top-notch position will be more beneficial if attained in the current year. He further added, “We have laid out all the strategies to be number one.”

Success of the auto maker can be judged by the fact that Audi sold 15 units of its costliest car, R8 Spyder, since March 2011 throughout the country, which is priced between Rs. 1.30 crore and Rs 1.76 crore.

The clientele list of Audi comprises the names of several leading industrialists, including Adi Godrej and Baba Kalyani as well as his son Amit. In the present scenario, Audi targets young buyers with its sporty line-up offered at a competitive price. The company has framed a strategy of offering new models with a price tag of less than Rs. 30 lacs. List of participants in this strategy includes Audi Q3, the compact premium Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), which was launched in May this year with a base price of Rs. 26.5 lacs. Reportedly, the model has been housed by more than 1,000 customers since its launch.

With these experiments, the auto maker's philosophy of going down the ladder and reaping decent profits has worked. On this, the Managing Partner with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants India, Wilfried Aulbur, quoted, “Audi has a very attractive product line up across segments and scale effects with Volkswagen provide it with an inherent cost advantage that can be passed on to the customer through either pricing or content.”

Aulbur, who was earlier serving Mercedes-Benz in India as a Head, further said, “Perschke has provided Audi with additional drive in India and also broadened the focus away from only SUVs to SUVs and passenger cars.”

Expressing his consent on the above statement, Perschke said, “Our products are very closely linked to our brand DNA of sportiness, progressiveness and sophistication: If the S4s and S6s signify sportiness, progressiveness is signified by Q3s, Q5s and Q7s.” He further said that the sophistication in the company's portfolio comes from its 'A' line-up models like A 7, A 8.

Along with all these, the company is also looking ahead to expand its dealership network be reaching out to smaller cities. Recently, the German auto maker has marked its presence in Navi Mumbai, and will now move to Nagpur, Lucknow and Kanpur. The MD said, “We'll look at India from at least 25 locations.”