CHENNAI: German luxury carmaker Audi has a plan to wrest the top spot in the Indian luxury car market - focus on young car buyers and deliver unique customer experience. Speaking to Express, Audi India Head Rahil Ansari pointed out that 2017 was an important year for the company, which had lost the top spot in the Indian market in 2015 and further slipped to the third spot in 2016, behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
“We will do whatever is necessary to reach a continuous growth for Audi and its dealer partners. Of course, we need to make sure that we achieve sustainable growth in India,” he said, adding that 2017 is the year of ‘Audi Reloaded’ and the firm would come back much stronger in the years to come.
The company is banking on enhancing customer experience and revamping its product strategy. “We are not only looking at volumes but our main focus is to fulfil customers’ requirements and create memorable delight moments for them. This means we’ll also be launching entirely new models, which will create a new segment in the industry,” he said.
A key segment is the growing segment of young car buyers. “The country definitely has a huge potential… This of course is attributed to the growing new segment of customers who are upgrading from premium sedans to compact and executive luxury sedans and SUVs or crossovers. These are young achievers, with disposable incomes to treat themselves to a luxury car, not only in tier-1 cities, but tier-2 and tier-3 towns as well,” pointed out Ansari.
In terms of revamping customer engagement, Audi says customers are provided more than routine test drives, with more than 9,000 customers participating in these initiatives.
The advent of GST and tax benefits accrued by luxury carmakers is also expected to give Audi a leg-up. “After a slow start, we are seeing new buoyancy in the market this year and GST combined with pre-GST special price package has given it a push. The trend will continue in Q3 and Q4 with festive season,” Ansari said.