The Shyam & Hari Bhartia-promoted Jubilant Corporation has bagged the exclusive selling rights for high-end cars from Audi in south India and is in talks with other luxury carmakers such as Bentley and Porsche for a similar arrangement.
Jubiliant Enpro, a group company, will soon be selling Audi's famous luxury cars, A-8, A-6, A-4, TT Coupe and Quattro in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Jubilant Corporation sources said the cars will be launched in the these states in the first quarter of 2005.
Amit Burman, managing director of Dabur Foods, has been appointed by Audi as its exclusive dealer for the north.
The luxury cars from Audi will be priced in the range of Rs 25 lakh (A-4) to Rs 70 lakh (A-8). With these price tags, Audi will be positioned against DaimlerChrysler in India.
A senior Jubilant Enpro executive said, "Audi sells 80,000 cars every year in China. This brand is number one in the luxury car segments in many countries. We are targeting a similar slot in India as well."
Jubilant is planning to open one dealer outlet in each of the four state capitals to begin with.
"Each of these outlets will be 5000-7000 sq ft in size. We may look at other cities in these states after launching the cars in the state capitals. We may appoint sub-dealers in our second round of expansion," he said.
Audi is not investing in the dealer network for now. "It may invest when it starts manufacturing or assembling in India two years from now," the Jubilant executive added.
He however did not divulge the value of investments in the four dealer outlets.
The company will working along with Audi to chalk out the sales plans for the southern states. Andhra Pradesh, according to him, may become the largest market for Audi's luxury cars in the south, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.