In my last post on TTAC, I wrote about how Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW are aggressively fighting for leadership in the luxury car market in India. This segment is just 20,000 units a year, but is expected to reach 1,50,000 units a year by 2020. Audi was breathing down the neck of BMW. However, BMW has bolstered its number one position with the launch of the F30 3-Series. The German automaker launched the new 3-Series in style, bringing in all the six generations of the 3-Series for the launch.
BMW has roped in Indian cricket superhero Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador, who unveiled the car to the media. The new 3-Series is offered in 5 variants (4 diesel and 1 gasoline) across 2 engines – 320d and 328i. More variants of the 3-Series will be launched later. Even before launch, BMW had received 500 bookings for the car, which is not bad considering the 3-Series range starts at Rs. 28.9 lakhs ($ 52,300 + another $ 8000 for registration, insurance and road tax). The top of the line 3-Series (328i) is priced at Rs. 37.9 lakhs ($ 68,600).
Audi will probably not launch any new vehicle in 2012. They have already launched the facelifted A4, new Audi TT, Q3 and S4 in the Indian market. The company is still considering whether the Audi Q7 V12 TDI should be brought into India, as the Indian conditions are very dusty and the carbon ceramic brakes don’t cope well with such an environment. Mercedes-Benz has already launched the new M-Class and will bring in the B-Class later this year. However, BMW plans to launch the X1 and X6 facelifts, along with the new 6-Series Coupe and 7-Series in India. Product onslaught is BMWs way of ensuring they stay on the top.
Faisal Ali Khan is the owner/operator of MotorBeam.com, a website covering the auto industry of India.
There is no M-Class. You mean ML?
Two engines but four are diesel and one is gasoline?
He said five VARIANTS, two engines …
Yes there is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_M-Class
Just out of curiosity: how is the luxury car market supposed to grow 6 times if salaries in India are 1/8th of, say, German salaries?
india like china has massive wealth inequality
who cares if the avg. indian is close to subsistence
guys at the top are living it large and the elite continue to expand
india is china 2.0 and companies would be dumb not to target that
Bingo, the rich are becoming richer, the poor are becoming poorer.
The Audi Q7 V12 TDI is no longer in production. Audi stopped building the V12 TDI engine. So this car won’t be coming to India.
Like USA , in India BMW can make his big spot on car market. But they have to be aggressive to capture market. In India sport cars market is still in growing mode . If BMW enters in this time in market they can cover a lot of part of India. Most of young peoples choice is racing car or sport car so If BMW become aggressive that will be beneficial for them.