Indian luxury car sales to triple by 2033: Audi’s Andre Konsbruck

The global sales head of Audi AG, Andre Konsbruck, believes the Indian luxury car market will triple in the next 10 years and is set to cross the 1 lakh unit sales mark by 2030. Speaking to Autocar post the 2023 annual earnings conference, Konsbruck said that the economic indicators of India are picking up rapidly and the industry is growing very fast.

“India has moved up to third place in the global sales and that is why India has full attention from Audi. The growth potential is finally getting materialised. Unlike the past, when the market promised a lot but did not deliver, at present, the market is ticking all (the right) boxes,” explained Konsbruck.   

1. Luxury car sales in India estimated to be 45,000 to 47,000 units in 2023
2. 20 new Audi models on the docket for an India launch
3. Audi expects 50 percent of luxury cars sales to come from EVs by 2028

In the calendar year 2023, the Indian luxury car market is estimated to have sold over 45,000 to 47,000 units, registering a strong double-digit growth. Audi India grew by 89 percent in 2023 registering a sale of 7,931 units. The tripling of volumes by 2033 would mean the market size may cross 1.25 lakh units per annum in 10 years. 

Lauding the Government of India’s latest electric vehicle policy, Konsbruck says that the Indian government is committed to electrification and local manufacturing. “It is a first market which has seen a specific intervention from the government towards the premium cars and that will help in accelerating the localisation of premium cars which will automatically drive demand. All these kinds of policies along with GST benefit – all small steps add up and will help in driving demand.”

Audi has globally announced the launch of 20 new models in the coming years and the head of sales said he is keen on bringing every single car to India principally. “We are open and happy to homologate every possible car. In principle, the entire portfolio is available to India, but we decide on the market launch with Balbir (Audi India head). The big advantage that Audi has is that we are renewing our portfolio in the next two years. We will have a completely new ICE portfolio and we will have a new widened range of EVs,” said Konsbruck.

The revamped portfolio will help Audi adjust globally as well as in India, if the market transition towards EVs were to face headwinds. Globally, Audi has committed to move to 100 percent electric by 2033, though in India, it expects the share of EVs to be 50 percent by 2030.