The move closely follows another German luxury car manufacturer Audi, which has increased price last month by 4% across its model range available in India. It led to an increase of . 1.52 lakh on the Q5 price (a luxury compact sports utility vehicle) and the price of Audi A6 sedan increasing by . 1.80 lakh. While the top-end Audi R8 price increased by about . 4.42 lakh. Luxury carmakers are yet to feel the impact of a slowdown that other carmakers are experiencing. In terms of sales, the regular mass market carmakers have seen sales declining 5% in the first half of 2013 and are likely to face stagnated demand in the coming months too. “Market conditions are challenging, but luxury segment has seen some propelled demand due to fresh launches. A depreciating rupee and the rise in input costs have made increase the prices of the entire range, though we are offering customised and innovative finance options from Audi Finance to make the purchase more attractive for our customers,” said Michael Perschke, head, Audi India.
“The weakening of the rupee is a concern and we have been monitoring the situation closely. However, we have not yet decided on a timeline or a quantum for increasing the prices, but it looks inevitable,” says Eberhard Kern, MD& CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
Other players in the Indian market for the super luxury segment have not decided on the exact quantum of hike applicable for the Indian customers. They say that there is an impact being felt from the weakening rupee, but no decision to increase prices has been taken now. “All brands we represent have an annual increase in prices which is implemented by the factory and is a global hike. Rarely do we see market specific price hike owing to local economic trends or currency fluctuation,” said Ashish Chordia, chairman of Shreyans Group. Shreyans is the official India importer for Bang & Olufsen, Bombardier Recreational Products, Ducati, Ferrari and Maserati in India.
BMW India has not decided the quantum of the hike. “Following a path of sustainable growth, BMW Group India has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. We are making price decisions with all due care and consideration ensuring that they pay off in the long-run and the real quantum would be announced in next few days,” Philipp von Sahr, president, BMW Group India, said.
Source: Economics Times
By: CHANCHAL PAL CHAUHAN
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