Small towns driving Audi car sales in AP, T

Hyderabad: Contrary to general belief, smaller cities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are driving sales of Audi luxury cars, according to Rajiv M Sanghvi, Managing Director, Audi Hyderabad “Nearly 25 per cent of our sales are coming from Tier 2 and 3 cities now and it was just seven per cent when we set up the dealership. The sales growth in such locations is very high now compared to Hyderabad,” Sanghvi told The Hans India recently.

He further said it was unimaginable a few years ago that a person from places like Warangal would be a luxury car. “But this is happening now. Even people from Nizamabad, Guntur, Rajamundry and Bhimavaram are buying more and more Audi models. There is lot of traditional wealth in those areas and people are going for luxury vehicles,” he further said. To cater to the growing demand from other cities, his company had set up a dealership in Visakhapatnam with an investment of over Rs 3.8 crore. “Our sales have increased in Vizag and surrounding areas after we opened the dealership. As customers there wanted a service facility in the close vicinity, we also established a state of the art service centre there,” he said, adding that a new showroom would be set up in Vijayawada soon.

He further said that his dealership had sold 474 Audi luxury cars and emerged as the market leader in the undivided AP last year. “We are eyeing 12 to 15 per cent growth this fiscal year,” he maintained. According to him, Audi A4 sedan and Q3 SUV which are entry level models are driving the growth. “Beside, Audi Q5, Q7 and A8, are also doing pretty well. Since Audi has a balanced portfolio, we are able to achieve market leadership in the region,” he added. Audi Q3 SUV is priced around Rs 30 lakh (ex showroom) while the price tag of Audi A8 luxury sedan can go upwards of Rs 2 crore depending on the customization.