Audi grabbed the top spot among luxury car brands in India by registering record sales in 2013. Audi India notched up 10,002 units in the last calendar year to become the first luxury car manufacturer in India to cross the 10,000 unit annual sales mark. Mercedes-Benz India took second place with 9,003 units sold in the same period (a 32 percent growth over 2012), which was also a record high for India’s first premium luxury car brand
Despite the lack of any all-new model in 2013, Audi still managed to sail past its German rival with a record 11% growth in total sales. Its strategy of launching new variants, facelifts and special editions of existing models at competitive prices seems to have worked well with Indian luxury car buyers.
2013 was the ‘Year of Offensive for Mercedes-Benz India which had a slew of big ticket launches like the all-new A-class, GL-class, and the thoroughly revised E-class. This gave Mercedes Benz considerable momentum to record the highest growth and lead the sales race for most of 2013 but it finally ended the year selling a 1,000 units short of Audi.
By comparison, in 2012, Audi India sold 9,003 units, while BMW India and Mercedes Benz India sold 9,375 and 6,840 car respectively
BMW India had held the top spot in the luxury car segment for four consecutive years until 2012. However, BMW has not released figures for 2013, so far. Sources say, it seems unlikely for the company to surpass Audi’s record sales mark for 2013.