Audi India has announced an aggressive turnaround strategy aimed at doubling its market share in the country from around 8% to 16% over the next three years, banking on a wave of new product launches, dealership expansion and enhanced customer engagement.
The company will kick off its product offensive with the launch of the next-generation Audi Q3 later this month followed by the all-new A5 sedan by February and the flagship Q9 SUV in the second half of next year. All three models will be locally assembled in India. More launches are under evaluation and will be announced later.
“Our ultimate objective is to double our market share from approximately 8% to 16% in the next three years,” Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India, said.
The strategy comes at a time when Audi trails rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz in India by a huge margin. Mercedes-Benz continues to lead the luxury car market, while BMW has strengthened its position through an expanded SUV and electric vehicle portfolio.
Dhillon said the company’s revival plan rests on three pillars new products, network expansion and improving customer ownership experience.
The dealer network will expand from the current 29 outlets to 40 by the end of next year, with a focus on Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Simultaneously, Audi is renovating its showrooms under a new global retail identity while upgrading digital infrastructure and training around 2,500 sales and after-sales personnel for the next generation of vehicles.
Alongside expanding its footprint, Audi is also banking on its growing customer base. The company has sold around 20,000 pre-owned luxury cars through its Audi Approved Plus network over the past six years and plans to convert many of these customers into buyers of new vehicles.
“Today, for every new car that we sell, we also sell one pre-owned luxury car. The next step is to see how many of these customers we can bring into new Audis,” Dhillon said. He added that every third Audi sold today is purchased by an existing customer, highlighting the brand’s improving customer loyalty.
Audi currently does not have an electric vehicle on sale in India after exhausting inventory of its earlier e-tron models. However, Dhillon said the company is evaluating fresh EV introductions and expects to share details in the coming months.
He added that clarity on the proposed India-European Union free trade agreement would help shape Audi’s future import strategy, particularly for premium imported models, although the company will continue to rely primarily on locally assembled vehicles.
“About 90-95% of the cars we sell will continue to be made in India. The FTA will complement and not replace our existing business model,” Dhillon said.
