The Indian luxury automotive market seems to be headed for growth in spite of the excise duty hikes and Volvo, the Swedish luxury automaker is now hopeful of almost tripling its sales for 2012, though it is very small in numbers unlike other German luxury manufacturing companies. As per the report in The Business Line, in 2011, Volvo marketed 320 vehicles in India and for 2012; it expects to offer more than 1000 vehicles.
As per the report, currently most significant German automakers Audi, Mercedes Benz and BMW have a strong hold in the Indian automotive market. They are followed by Tata owned Jaguar Land Rover and then the Swedish automaker. The March-quarter figures reveal Mercedes overtaken by Audi for grabbing the number 2 slot which Mercedes had held since 2009. Mercedes Benz was leading the pack till BMW displaced it in 2009. Mr. Tomas Ernberg, Managing Director at Volvo Auto India stated that this shows there is intense competition at the top.
Mr. Ernberg also said that under a relatively new owner and a new Chief Executive Officer internationally, Volvo has now put India in perspective, as one of the most promising markets in the world. By 2020, vehicle volumes will be touching five million – the luxury market will be 3% of that at 1.5 lakh cars. The Swedish automaker has seven dealerships and 8 showrooms in India. They will be doubling dealerships and showrooms by next year and shall also see the introduction of plethora of new products, said Ernberg.