Despite a general slowdown, Audi India has posted a dizzying growth figure of 123 per cent, selling 321 units in January-April 2008.
Now, the German car manufacturer is targeting a 30 per cent market share by 2010, promising to sell 3,000 units in the projected market of 10,000 luxury vehicles. The boost in sales is likely to come from Audi models being launched in India soon after being introduced in the international market.
All set to launch the new A4 sedan in July, Benoit Tiers, managing director, Audi India, tells Business Standard about the company's objectives.
What can we expect from Audi in India?
We are launching the all-new A4 just six months after it was launched in international markets. The car will be imported till November and after that it will be built locally on a completely-knocked-down (CKD) unit. The price will be the same at Rs 29 lakhs (Rs 2.9 million a unit. We are ready to absorb the price-differential hit.
The car will be tweaked to suit Indian driving conditions in areas like suspension, emission and comfort.
You are a Volkswagen (VW) group-owned company. How is VW trying to synergise its operations in India?
As far as human resource, IT processes and parts sourcing goes, VW, Audi, and Skoda will have synchronised operations. But Audi will not use VW's Pune manufacturing facility.
Why don't you have your own plant like your competitors?
It will be wise to go with the facility of our group-owned companies, as volumes do not propel us to look beyond those yet. Our cars will roll out from Skoda's plant in Aurangabad, where we are investing about $30 million to add production lines.
A new line for the A4 is under construction there.
What is your strategy to push sales? How is it going to be different from your rivals?
We are launching a new approach to sales in our dealerships here. This will be introduced across the globe later. We want to make sure that a prospective customer enjoys the same experience in India as he would elsewhere in the world.
The experience of buying an Audi in India will be the same as buying it in Germany.
Are you planning to come out with any special finance packages for your customers?
We are in talks with a few recognised banks for an exclusive tie-up. We will make an announcement in a few weeks. We are also going to offer a three-year maintenance package where customers will pay a monthly fee for our service plan.
We are yet to see the real picture, but are overwhelmed with the response so far. We are now opening dealerships in Pune, Ludhiana, Kochi and Ahmedabad. We are confident that these will form a considerable size of our total sales.
