Audi takes the top spot among luxury car makers in India

Audi has taken the first spot in the Indian luxury car space for the first time in the first quarter of 2013. This spot was previously held by its German rival, BMW, reports the Economic Times.

BMW India managed to sell a total of 1465 vehicles from January to March 2013 which was a year-on-year decline of 40 per cent. Out of the total sales, 1410 were BMW cars and 55 were Mini cars. Audi managed to sell 2616 vehicles in the same period, which resulted into a growth of 15 per cent. Mercedes Benz India sold 2009 units between January and March that helped help them grow by 5 per cent and take the second spot.

“The BMW Group is a very successful global company and continues to strive for a worldwide balance in sales. We will continue to our success story in India in 2013 due to the availability of new models such as the BMW 1 Series in the third quarter and a full year availability of the BMW 3 Series this year” said a BMW spokesperson. 

"If the numbers are true, then Audi is not only number one in the first quarter of 2013, but for the whole of FY-13I think 2013 will be a very competitive year. It will be like an F1 competition, neck-and-neck racing and not like football league in Germany. At least we would end 2013 as a strong number two or we would be defending our number 1 position if things fall in place, as we have planned." said Michael Perschke, head, Audi India.

Few days ago, Philip Von Sahr, president of BMW India commented that number one position doesn’t matter. What matters is sustainable growth with profits and builds a strong brand with maximum sales and customer satisfaction.