Not so concerned with what others are going to take it as, Audi, the four-ringed German luxury car manufacturer, today made an announcement of a price hike for its product line in India by an average of 3 percent. The increase in price will be effective from May 1, 2014. The reason cited behind the action is to offset impact of rupee volatility. Hopefully, all thanks to the forex exchange market mechanism that may be playing spoilsport for the Audi.
“While Audi has exhibited stellar sales performance in 2013 and in the first quarter of 2014, the overall market scenario has remained challenging with the constant fluctuation in forex rate; thus resulting in a rise in input and operational costs. To address this, we have rationalized prices, but have ensured that the impact is as minimal as possible. Additionally, we continue to offer our customers innovative finance solutions from Audi Finance which will make their purchase more attractive,” said Mr. Joe King, Head, Audi India.
The first quarter of 2014 had given Audi a hat-trick of Best-ever sales in the country. Audi India sold 1404 units during the month of March 2014, the highest number of cars sold by the brand in a month in India, with a 18 percent growth recorded year-on-year (March 2013: 1104 units). Audi too gained the best ever quarterly sale of 2740 units (in the tenure between Jan-March 2014), and the best ever Financial Year Sales of 10126 units (FY13/14) – the first for a luxury car manufacturer in India.
Audi started the year with a very sporty yet powerful appear – launched the Audi RS 7 Sportback with the Bollywood actor Salman Khan to be its first buyer. The company also inaugurated new showrooms in cities of Udaipur, Visakhapatnam and Nashik.
The Audi product line in India includes the Audi A4, Audi A6, Audi A7 Sportback, Audi A8L, Audi Q3 S, Audi Q3, Audi Q5, Audi Q7, Audi S4, Audi S6, Audi RS 5 Coupé, Audi RS 7 Sportback, Audi TT Coupé, the super sports car Audi R8, Audi R8 Spyder and the Audi R8 V10 plus.
This year, the most compact sedan A3 is also about to make its debut, going to captive an all new segment in the luxury car market of India.
