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Audi Halts New Spending in India as Sales Stall
Audi AG says it is suspending further investment in India until local sales volumes improve, The Economic Times reports.
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Audi AG says it is suspending further investment in India until local sales volumes improve, The Economic Times reports.
Rahil Ansari, who heads Audi India, tells the newspaper that the brand sold fewer than 6,500 vehicles in India last year. He says further spending isn’t likely until Audi can rebuild its annual volume to 10,000 units. That goal appears unrealistic until customer sentiment and taxes improve, he concedes.
Ansari points to another sales hurdle: the cost of meeting India’s new BS VI emission standards, which will be passed along to buyers.
He predicts Audi sales will improve during the second half of 2019 with the help of a new sales outlet in Gurgaon, one of Audi’s largest markets in India. He also expects a boost from the 10 new models and variants that Audi is introducing in India this year.
Even so, Ansari predicts that full-year Audi sales in India will do no better than match last year’s volume.
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