BMW gives in to Audi, Merc assault as its sales fall 40% in Q1

Audi and Mercedes have breezed past long time leader BMW in the Indian luxury car market.

According to a report in the Economic Times, BMW witnessed a 40 percent on year fall in sales during January-March to 1465 vehicles. Of this, 1,410 were BMW-branded and 55 were Mini.

Meanwhile, Audi sold 2,616, up 15 percent on year, and Mercedes 2009, up over 5 percent.

In the new pecking order, Mercedes has managed to win back the second slot. AFP[/caption]

According to autoblog Rushlane, BMW has been the leader in the Indian luxury car market from 2009, when it had overtaken Mercedes Benz. Audi later toppled Mercedes to be the No 2.

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In the new pecking order, Mercedes has managed to win back the second slot.

Competition in the domestic luxury car market is heating up. Upping the ante is Michael Perschke, head of Audi India. "I think 2013 will be a very competitive year. It will be like an F1 competition, neck-and-neck racing and not like football league in Germany," he has been quoted as saying in the ET report.

Countering Perschke, a BMW spokesperson exuded confidence that the company will continue its success story in India in 2013 "due to the availability of new models such as the BMW 1 Series in the third quarter and a full year availability of the BMW 3 Series this year".

The company had earlier said it is not into volume game, according to Rushlane. The ET also quotes the spokesperson as saying that the company is not in a month-on-month race in individual markets and its focus is more on "worldwide balance in sales".

However, recently there were reports that BMW has started assembling its luxury small car MINI models in Chennai in order to meet "the steadily increasing demand".

The move would make the MINI Countryman cheaper by Rs 10 lakh, with the lower end of the range likely to be Rs 23.50 lakh.

The global luxury car majors are targeting buyers outside the ultra-rich with locally-made hatchbacks and smaller cars, a Reuters report recently said.

Mercedes, Audi and BMW are also broadening their target market to include young, female and middle-class drivers to boost lacklustre performance, the report said.

With the entry level luxury segment expected to see a lot of action, the slowdown is likely to churn out more interesting news.