Mumbai: Luxurious automotive makers comparable to Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi are set to launch a number of new sport-utility car fashions over the following three months, hoping to additional deepen their foothold on this rising phase fuelled by evolving life-style tendencies and altering preferences of India’s prosperous consumers.
Such premium autos priced at greater than 50 lakh at the moment make up as a lot as 60% of gross sales at these corporations, attracting a broader set of consumers together with households and journey fans, in response to information collated by Jato Dynamics. Versatility and imposing highway presence of SUVs over luxurious sedans is discovering rising favour amongst Indian consumers. Mercedes-Benz with the most important portfolio of a dozen SUVs, grew gross sales by 41% in Q1 2024 “buoyed primarily by file gross sales of GLA, GLC, GLE and GLS SUVs within the first quarter of 2024 and we anticipate this demand to stay sturdy in coming months,” mentioned Santosh Iyer, MD, Mercedes-Benz India.
Desire for Street Journeys
Iyer mentioned the corporate is seeing sturdy demand for its top-end SUV fashions as extra clients are actually preferring highway journeys for intercity travel–either for enterprise or leisure. Mercedes-Benz SUVs retail from INR 52 lakh for GLA to INR 4 crore for the AMG G 63. It plans to launch a facelift of its GLB SUV quickly.
Waitlists extending as much as a 12 months for common Mercedes-Benz fashions like GLC underscore the sturdy demand, mentioned Ravi Bhatia, president, Jato Dynamics.
“At Audi India, we now have a robust SUV portfolio and have witnessed sturdy demand for our vehicles together with the Q3, Q5 and Q7. Our Q vary is attracting many consumers; we’re witnessing good demand from rising markets particularly tier-II cities,” mentioned Balbir Singh Dhillon, head of Audi India.
He mentioned SUVs, together with electrical fashions, comprised greater than 60% of Audi India’s gross sales within the March quarter.
“We’ll introduce particular editions throughout our common Q vary very quickly,” mentioned Dhillon, including the corporate might be quickly introducing the Q8 mannequin at about INR 1.6 crore.
Prospects who journey quite a bit with household and mates just like the house and luxury that SUVs supply. “Shoppers who take pleasure in lengthy driving and off-roading experiences, relish the dynamics and energy supply of a BMW all-wheel drive system. Good floor clearance and suspension assist in taking over any highway situations with consolation whereas an elevated seating place helps with visibility and ease of navigation,” mentioned Vikram Pawah, president, BMW Group India.
BMW’s X1 is the corporate’s top-selling mannequin with about 20% share of total gross sales, adopted by the X7.
With rising affluence and urge for food for journey amongst Indians, world luxurious automakers are actively broadening their SUV choices to lure India’s elite with the most recent tech, electrification and ultra-luxurious options, mentioned Bhatia.
