Easing of import norms likely to increase market share

Hyderabad: The easing of import regulations on luxury vehicles has made it easier for foreign auto manufacturers to bring in newer vehicles to India which will help luxury car makers to judge the market acceptance for high-end vehicles, said a head of a luxury car maker.

Speaking to media on the sideline of the launch of new ‘Audi Showroom’ here in Hyderabad, Rahil Ansari, Head Audi said, “We are happy with the government’s decision on the liberalized import norms which allows us to import 2500 units per year without incurring exorbitant cost of homologation or local road-worthiness certification which usually takes about 2-3 months."

Rahil said, “The company will launch three new models in 2019 – A8, R8 and Q8 which are high-end luxury cars. We are planning to expand into tier-II and tier-III cities too service workshops in Vijayawada & Visakhapatnam.” “We had closed last year with 6463 units and expect the current year numbers to be around the same as the new launches are in higher segment, where volumes are relatively low. However, there could also be some surprise introduction for the Indian market,”
he said.

Referring to its electric vehicle eTron, he said the vehicle has the capability to run up to 400 km on a single charge as against some of other cars which manage about 120 to 150 km per charge.Rahil said “we are keen to bring EVs into India as it fits well into the Government plan to provide push and support electric mobility. This may be either in 2020 or may even see early introduction depending upon how electric vehicle infrastructure develops in the country during the year.

“The luxury car market in India is about 40,000 units per annum and is relatively small but holds immense scope to expand as more and more people are looking to these cars. However, the high 28 per cent GST and Cess has been deterrents. We have been interacting with the Government requesting it to bring down the taxes as this will expand the luxury car market,” he said. “While we were No.1 in the country in the luxury car segment up to 2013-14, we have moved to No. 3 in the past couple of years.

We expect to consolidate our sales volumes,” he added. Referring to BS VI norms, he said “Audi will offer all its cars conforming to latest emission norms from April 1, 2020.”Mentioning about gradual shift away from diesel cars, he said “What was 90:10 for diesel and petrol respectively has come down to 70:30 in 2018 and again we expect this to shift to 50:50.”

Earlier, inaugurating a new state-of-the-art Audi showroom here on Thursday, Rahil said, “Initiating the contact with the customer in a creative and experiential environment is vital for the brand Audi as we are witnessing increasing interest not only in the Audi brand but also in luxury as a whole in the Hyderabad region.”

Speaking on this occasion, Rajiv Sanghvi, Managing Director, Audi Hyderabad said “The new showroom will showcase the whole range of Audi luxury vehicles. The showroom with an 9-car display and spread across an impressive 12000 sq. ft. is according to Audi’s global standards.”