Having filled a critical gap at the entry level with the Q3 and Q3 sportback, Ingolstadt luxury car maker Audi has seen its SUV sales shoot up to 60% of its overall sales.
The growing GDP and democratisation of the luxury car market across a wider customer segment – i.e. professionals, start-up founders, corporates, businessmen, especially the younger population, has helped Audi grow its SUV sales over 217%, albeit on a low base.
Balbir Singh Dhillon, head of Audi India said that since the launch of the Q3 and Q3 sportback, the company has brought in a lot of entry buyers in the brand and that has helped us grow the SUV sales.
“The share of SUVs has moved up from 50% to 60% of our overall sales. We have the strongest Q portfolio in the country, from the entry to top end to EVs. The Q3 has brought in a lot of excitement in the brand with customers coming from across geographies and profiles,” added Dhillon.
Led by the strong SUV outperformance, Audi was able to post 97% growth in the first six months of this calendar year. Dhillon is confident of ending the year on a high double-digit growth.
With the industry expected to hit a new peak, Audi too is moving quickly towards its previous peak – Dhillon expects the double-digit growth to sustain in the coming few years – which he said is supported by key factors of the growing economy and a strong product portfolio.
Audi India had consolidated its operations for a couple of years post BS VI, deciding to exit the diesel market. The Ingolstadt based luxury car maker has made rapid recovery led by younger buyers who are looking for petrol SUVs.
“We did see the impact of the decision on our volumes for the first two years, but now the tide is shifting fast towards petrol and EVs – a key strategic call we took in 2020. It was tough to begin with, now it is going in line with our vision. Pre-BS VI the share of diesel was 80%, this has come down to almost 40%. As the shift towards EVs gather momentum – the share of diesel should further fall,” added Dhillon.
As for electric vehicles, the head of Audi brand says it will be a slow and steady rise. “We have to be patient, it will take time. All manufacturers including us are doing their bit on introducing products and developing the infrastructure. We need high speed chargers on the highways for the adoption to gather speed. We will have to continue to invest,” he added.
Currently the company is selling its top end EV, Dhillon said, adding that globally Audi has plans of launching 20 EVs by 2025 and the Indian buyers will get some key models being introduced at a later date.
“There are EVs coming in the mid-price and entry-price segment, we are also considering assembly of EVs, but all that will happen gradually. The shift towards EVs is a given and we will strongly participate,” added Dhillon.