Mar
17
2010
The Hindu Business Line
The Audi Chairman, Mr Rupert Stadler, calls India the future market for the German luxury carmaker. The company is expecting a 10-fold leap in sales in India in the next 10-15 years.
"Why do I call it a future market? The Indian economy will experience a higher rate of growth than any other national economy until 2030. There are already two million households (in India) with an annual income of more than $1,00,000.
That tally of households is growing at an annual rate of 14 per cent. In 10-15 years, Audi has the potential to be selling as many cars in India as in Japan,” said Mr Stadler at the Audi annual press conference at Ingolstadt, near Munich, on Tuesday. Audi sold close to 16,000 units in Japan in 2009.
The company sold 1,658 units in India in 2009, reporting a 58-per cent sales growth. This year the company targets to double the sales by starting the local assembly of a third model – the sports utility vehicle Q5 – from June 2010.