Luxury car companies chart a new path for growing India
Porsche AG's executive board member for sales and marketing Detlev von Platen and vice-president of region overseas and emerging markets Matthias Becker will be in India later this month, while senior executives from BMW's headquarters are scheduled to fly in during the festive season in October. Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of management at Mercedes-Benz AG, Andre Konsbruck, VP for overseas sales at Audi AG; Nick Connor, head of Volvo Cars in Asia Pacific; and Francesco Scardaoni, region director, Automobili Lamborghini Asia Pacific, have already visited the country in the past few months.These are among about a dozen top executives of luxury-vehicle companies who have already visited India or will be here soon to review their growth strategies for this market.
India is still not a huge market for top-end luxury vehicles — industry estimates suggest sales volume in the first half of 2023 at around 20,000 units — but is growing fast and sales are estimated to top 100,000 units in the next 10 years. As per a report by property consultant Knight Frank, India ranks sixth in the pace of growth in the number of self-made people with net assets of $30 million or more and are under the age of 40 years — a key customer segment for luxury products including vehicles.
The increased focus on India comes at a time when its economy is projected to grow at a healthy pace even as several advanced economies including the US, Germany and the UK are beset with recessionary risks. The International Monetary Fund last month raised India's GDP growth forecast to 6.1% for this fiscal year.
In comparison, the US is expected to grow by 1.8% and the UK by 0.4%, while the German economy is projected to contract by 0.3%. India is also a
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