Balbir Singh Dhillon, head of Audi India, said the Indian luxury car market will continue to grow at double the pace of the country’s mainstream car market and reach 1 lakh units in annual sales by 2030. This will imply 100% growth in volumes from the 2024 base of 50,000 units.
While the overall market is likely to grow at a healthy clip, Dhillon said, Audi will likely slip into negative territory due to supply-side challenges. He, however, expects to return to the market growth rate or even faster in 2025.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of Audi Q7 launch in Mumbai, Dhillon said the automotive industry has been recovering well post-pandemic. It is believed that this year, the industry should produce about 4.2 million cars, and the luxury space, while small, will hit a new high of 50,000 cars, he said.
“We are looking at solid growth…the industry will continue to grow. The luxury space will grow at twice the speed of the automotive industry. We believe multiple factors are driving this – growing economy, infrastructure spends, booming financial markets, amongst others,” he added.
Dhillon said that between 2023 and 2028, India will witness the highest growth for any country in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs). India is home to 13,263 UHNIs (CY23), which will increase to 19,908 by CY28 (50.1% growth).
The number of HNIs in the country will grow from 7.9 lakh to 1.6 million people, the biggest driver of fresh demand for luxury cars in the coming decade.
“The Indian stock market crossed a market capitalization of $4 trillion, becoming the 4th biggest equity market globally. There is a sustained inflow from FIIs, the retail investor base is growing rapidly amid robust domestic macros and strong corporate earnings,” he explained the factors behind the long optimism for the Indian market.
With rising disposable incomes, brands once considered premium are becoming mass brands and there has been a conscious shift in behavior towards consuming luxury post-covid, said Dhillon
“India’s luxury goods market is estimated to expand 3.5x by 2030 (fastest growing luxury market globally) to about 30 billion dollars from the current 8.5 billion dollars,” he added.