Click to play videoNew Delhi: India's luxury car market forms 0.5 per cent of the total car sales in the country, catering to those who can spend anything between Rs 26 lakh and Rs 1 crore for their wheels, and it is growing despite a slowing GDP.
Reason? Glam wheels are the ultimate aspiration for many even in tough times.
“I got a car that I have always wanted. It was the right time for me regardless of the economy,” catering entrepreneur Puneet Sikand said.
The Indian market has been dominated by Mercedes Benz for over a decade. Its big sellers have been the domestically manufactured C and E Class.
However, regardless of penetration from Cochin to the Capital, Merc's recent monthly sales were outpaced by arch rival, BMW, which despite its entry in 2007, has sold more cars in the recent past.
The slowdown has not affected BMW's takers for its 3 and 5 series, priced at par with Merc's C and E Class.
“India is all about below the line marketing, it’s not the big ads, it’s calling in people to dealerships,” President of BMW India Peter Kronschnabel said.
But will BMW continue to be on top? Aware that its growth has come from a smaller base of sales, BMW has a long way before catching up to Merc's deeper penetration into the country, and displacing India's obsession with the car maker.
But what's keeping the car makers hungry is the growing aspiration for luxury cars despite a slowdown.
“Slowdown or not, this market will boom and we are at the helm of it, nothing can beat us,” said Vidur Talwar from T and T Motors.
Meanwhile, new entrant Audi has been snapping at the heels of both BMW and Merc. If it sold 800 cars last year, it plans to sell another 1,200 this year.
“Forget the BMW bond hangover, Audi is for Yale/Harvard returnees who don’t want dad's stuffy cars,” auto expert Murad Ali Baig said.
With the market being 10,000 out of a million cars sold in the country, the tip of this exclusive iceberg is too hard, and too small to melt.
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