HERALD: What is the present status of vehicle industry in India and what is the size of the luxury car segment?
RAHIL ANSARI: The luxury car market comprises of less than 2% of the total car market in India. The segment is small but the country delivers a huge potential. We expect the market to grow at a certain stage as a substantial amount of people can afford owning an Audi. IHS Automotive had last year forecasted that the market is expected to grow to 87,300 units by 2020, which is more than double its current size. However, we believe this will depend on lot of external factors including the impact of GST on the market and customer sentiment, especially in the light of the additional cess imposed. India does have the potential to be among the top 10 global markets for Audi within the next decade.
HERALD: Given the depressed nature of the Indian economy, what has been the effect on your sales?
RA: We expected the luxury car market to showcase a better performance this year. However, due to the developments during the year, we are expecting sales for the year to be stable.
Uncertainty in the minds of customers with regard to GST as well as the CESS hike had a negative impact on us. Also, we were very clear on achieving a sustainable growth, which excludes buying market share.
HERALD: What is the response from the Goa market to the various models launched over the years?
RA: With the launch of the #A5BratPack – Audi A5 Sportback, Audi A5 Cabriolet and new Audi S5 Sportback, we have already achieved our target of launching 10 products in 2017 in India. We have already launched 11 models in India this year – A3 Cabriolet, A4 TDI, Q3 TDI, Q3 TFSI, A3 Sedan, Audi A6 Design Edition, Audi Q7 Design Edition, Audi Q7 40 TFSI, Audi A5 Sportback, Audi S5 Sportback and Audi A5 Cabriolet.
The response in Goa has been positive and we are perceived as the brand for the young generation whether it is the Audi A3- Two Kinds of Swagger or the #A5BratPack.
HERALD: Which model drives your sales in the Goa market?
RA: We see a good demand for the Audi A4 and the Audi Q3 in the Goa market. In fact, Audi A3 Cabriolet too has done quite well and we have seen a good response from the customers in this region.
HERALD: Do you intend to expand your dealer base in Goa?
RA: Making the brand accessible is one of our important pillars – overall we have 90+ customer touch points at the moment and we are looking at expanding it. We are looking at establishing a profitable network for our dealers. We have also come up with ‘workshop first’ solution, where you have decent car park. We will see the viabilities first by opening the workshops first. We are already looking at some small cities/towns for the showrooms and announce when the time comes. In addition to expanding our network footprint, we believe in increasing accessibility by reaching out to the customers, even at their doorsteps. Our Audi Mobile Terminal, a luxury showroom on wheels, will visit more than 40 cities this year, providing access to our entire Audi India model range to our prospects and fans in much smaller cities.
HERALD: How were the festive sales for you in the country and in Goa?
RA: During the festive season we have observed a preponement of bookings, clearly in the month of August which was mainly driven due to the discussion of the cess increase. But at the same time due to the cess hike announcement, the festive season has not been as great as it would have been earlier.
HERALD: What are the trends emerging in the luxury segment in the country and anything specific to Goa?
RA: Apart from the pre-ponement of bookings for this year’s festive season we have observed that customers love experimenting with colours, going for blue or red cars for example. So apart from going for a luxury product, they are also looking at distinguishing themselves by being more courageous on the choice of colours.
HERALD: How do you visualize the luxury segment growing in the years ahead?
RA: The segment is small but country is so full of resources. A substantial amount of people can own an Audi. We expect the market to grow at a certain stage. No one knows when this time will come but it is sure that the segment will grow. India is a small but strategic market for Audi.
