Luxury automakers Mercedes, Audi, BMW expect rise in sales this festive season

Premium automotive brands Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW are anticipating strong sales figures during the upcoming festive period in India, as the demand for high-end vehicles continues to show an upward trajectory in the country.

In a conversation with PTI, Mercedes-Benz India's Managing Director and CEO Santosh Iyer expressed that the luxury car segment is poised for its most successful performance to date this year, with festive season purchases playing a crucial role in the overall performance.

Iyer noted that the festive season typically results in high double-digit sales growth, which helps the automaker balance out the single-digit growth experienced in the preceding quarter. "In this way, on average, we are able to achieve double-digit growth during the festive season," Iyer explained.

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Providing insights into the broader industry, which still represents a small fraction of the overall passenger vehicle market in India, he mentioned that the segment is on track to reach record volumes this fiscal year. However, he pointed out that not all companies are experiencing growth. "Some firms are even experiencing negative growth, some are stagnant and facing challenges, but as we are the primary player in the market, we still believe the luxury car market should surpass 50,000-51,000 units this year," Iyer stated.

It's worth noting that the luxury car market in India currently remains quite small, accounting for less than two per cent of the overall passenger vehicle market in the country.

Audi India's Head, Balbir Singh Dhillon, expressed that the company expects positive purchasing trends to persist during the festive season. "We anticipate favorable buying patterns to continue throughout the festive period. Our bestselling models - the Audi A4, A6, Q3, Q3 Sportback, Q5, Q7, and the newly introduced Q8 - continue to generate strong demand," he added. Dhillon also expressed optimism about the e-tron range, including the e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT.

Dhillon further noted that demand over the past few months has shown steady growth, and the company expects this trend to continue in the coming period. With the approaching festive season, Audi is anticipating good growth driven by sustained demand for models such as the A4, A6, Q5, Q7, and Q8.

BMW Group India's President, Vikram Pawah, stated that the fundamentals of the Indian economy are robust and consumer confidence in the luxury segment is on the rise. "For BMW Group India, our order book is solid and we are doing our utmost to expedite deliveries for our customers. Combined with additional bookings around Diwali and Dussehra, we are confident of ending the year on a high note while achieving impressive growth," he affirmed.