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N. Ramakrishnan

Recently in Ingolstadt, Germany

The premium luxury car market in India is small, about 4,000 cars a year now, says Mr Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi. The company’s first target is to breach the 1,000-cars-a-year barrier, he told a group of Indian journalists at the company’s headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany.

He will not put a date for reaching that milestone, but says that Audi will hope to sell 10,000 cars a year by 2015, by which time it also hopes to double sales in China from the 1,02,888 units sold in 2007.

Interacting with the Indian journalists after announcing the company’s results for 2007, Mr Stadler is confident that there is a growing market for premium luxury cars — ones made by Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi. With infrastructure improving and the ambition levels of the younger generation being what they are, Audi — the last of the three German premium car manufacturers to set up assembling operations in India — believes that sales of luxury cars will increase dramatically.

And, Audi, Mr Stadler says, with its range of sedans, coupes and SUVs, is well poised to benefit from this growth. As part of its strategy to increase sales, the company will have 10 dealers in place by the year end, from seven now.

Audi’s sales in India have been steadily growing — from 105 cars sold in 2005 to 300 the next year and to 350 in 2007. Audi assembles the A6 at its Aurangabad plant in Maharashtra, a facility it shares with group company Skoda, and plans to assemble the A4 by 2008 end. It also imports its top end A8 sedan and the Q7 sports utility vehicle.

Audi will look to introduce the recently unveiled new Q7 V12 TDI. This sports a 6-litre engine and is much more powerful than the Q7 SUVs that it sells in India, directly imported from Europe. The Q7 range is now available from Rs 49 lakh to Rs 60 lakh. Audi has also developed a smaller sibling to the Q7 — the Q5 — with a 2-litre TDI engine.

Production of this vehicle is expected to start shortly in Germany and Audi officials believe that at a lower price, the Q5 will have a good response in India. However, they decline to put a date of possible introduction apart from saying it may happen in a year.

At the press conference, where journalists from a number of countries were present, Mr Stadler and Mr Axel Strotbek, Board Member for Finance, said the Audi Group’s revenue in 2007 rose by 8 per cent over the previous year to €33.6 billion and profit after tax by 26 per cent to €1.7 billion.

The company sold 9,64,000 vehicles during the year, a 6.5 per cent increase. Sales in China crossed the 1-lakh mark for the first time. Audi is examining various options for a plant in the US, including a joint operation with Volkswagen.

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