When Mercedes and BMW are going all guns blazing with introducing (or in pipeline) volume pullers such as the A-Class (See Spyshots) , B-Class , 1 series , the iconic Minis in the country, Audi has decided not to take this route.
Audi’s country head Michael Perschke has stated that unlike the competition, they would not get indulged in the volume-triggering game and shall not be introducing any further smaller cars in India. That means cars like A1 and others are still some time away for us.
Mr. Perschke has stated that the company instead of joining the competition will focus on introducing the top tier cars and luxury sports utility vehicles. This way, they are going to focus more and more on garnering the luxury segment which includes cars priced north of Rs.30 lakh.
The Volkswagen owned luxury car brand has been following the top down approach, like almost all the brands under the purview, for the country and it has proved to be quite successful for the Germans. They wish to keep the brand a luxury and do not wish to dilute this image of the brand. In an earlier report, we informed you that the company was well ahead of its target when it came to sales figures and has already crossed the sales target for this year with a month of sales left.
BMW has launched their Mini series of cute looking cars and is soon going to bring in the 1-series. Mercedes, still considered as THE luxury car maker by some loyalists, just introduced the petrol engined B-class at a price of Rs.21.4 lakhs and is preparing a diesel version of the luxury MPV. We have already seen the A-Class hatchback doing rounds around Pune. Soon after that, the A-Class sedan will follow which will rival the Superb, Passat and the likes.
Swedish manufacturer Volvo is also all set to revamp their Indian presence with the introduction of the smallest member to the family – V40 – Cross Country which they would be launching in March next year.
With the competition giving it all they’ve got to boost their sales figures, Audi wants to maintain its premium image. That is a big decision of not falling prey to the volume game. Audi has been brave enough in this regard and only time will tell if the youth appealing brand goes on to become the country’s number 1 luxury car brand, but at the way they are going currently, it looks just a matter of time. The coming months would be very interesting for customers wanting to own luxury brands with a slew of products lined up.
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Source: Economic Times
Richie Rich
