Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Auto India, is eyeing the Bangalore market, with a target of selling 200 cars this year.
Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Auto India, is eyeing the Bangalore market, with a target of selling 200 cars this year.
The four cars, including two SUVs and two sedans, to be introduced in the city will be high-end vehicles costing between Rs35-67 lakh each. Volvo feels Bangalore is a key market, having a lot of demand for luxury cars.
Tomas Ernberg, managing director, Volva Cars, said, “Entering Bangalore signifies our presence in the key market for luxury cars in India. After successful presence in other regions in India, we plan to consolidate our presence in Bangalore by opening a 7,000 square feet showroom here.”
Luxury cars comprise those costing upwards of Rs30 lakhs, with firms like BMW, Audi, Porsche, Jaguar being key players. Bangalore sold 2,000 luxury cars last year and is projected to sell 2,500 this year. Ritesh Reddy, joint owner of car dealer Martial Motors said the city is a potential market for luxury cars with the IT boom and the infusion of professionals from across India. “We will leverage the comfort and brand associated with Volvo buses, which are quite popular with Bangaloreans, to market the cars,” said Reddy.
Volvo has a presence in India since 2007 and has been selling cars in Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad. It sold 821 cars nationally in 2012 and is targeting 1100 units this year. Volvo sold about 300 cars last year in Hyderabad and some 200 and 100 in New Delhi and Mumbai respectively. According to Ernberg, India is one of the fastest growing luxury car markets though the penetration right now is minuscule.
2012 witnessed about 28,000 luxury cars being sold across India, while around 33, 000 are expected to be sold this year. “This is just 1% of the total car industry volume,” said Ernberg. Fuel price hikes or increase in excise duty have practically no impact on the luxury market since it is mainly consumers belonging to SEC A who buy them. In last month’s budget, the excise on SUVs was raised to 30% from 27%. While basic customs duty on cars costing over Rs20 lakhs was hiked to 100% from 75% earlier.
@DNA
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