Luxury cars see record sales in 2023 festive season

Luxury car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW have witnessed record sales in the festive season this year. The luxury car brands reportedly dispatched record numbers of cars during the festive season this year, as demands for high-end cars continue to grow across India, revealed PTI. Buoyed by the brisk sales performance throughout the year, the luxury automobile manufacturers are hopeful to register their best-ever performance in 2023.

Speaking to the news agency, Mercedes-Benz India's managing director Santosh Iyer said that the festive season this year starting from Onal to Diwali has been better than 2022. He attributed the better sales performance of the three-star luxury car brand to multiple new model launches, an attractive product portfolio and strong consumer sentiment.

Iyer said that thanks to these positive factors, Mercedes-Benz has seen record deliveries during Dussehra, Dhanteras and Diwali. "We have seen record deliveries during Dussehra, Dhanteras and Diwali reflecting customer enthusiasm," he said. Buoyed by the sales performance throughout the year, especially during the festive season, Mercedes-Benz continues to have a positive industry outlook.

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The German automaker expects record sales in 2023. However, the auto company also expects the supply chain-related disruptions to continue to pose challenges. The supply chain issue would affect the production and availability of SUVs, especially the Mercedes-Benz GLC, which is the most popular product from the brand. "We continue to have a positive industry outlook, expecting record sales this year. However, we forecast supply chain-related disruptions to continue in the coming months as well," said Iyer.

Another German luxury car manufacturer Audi too registered impressive sales performance during this festive season. Audi India's head Balbir Singh Dhillon said the auto company recorded an 88 per cent growth with 5,530 units retailed in January-September 2023. "We have been operating with one of our highest-order banks in recent times. This festive period marked bigger celebrations for Audi India as we witnessed our highest-ever festive season sales in the last seven years," he added. Dhillon said that the sales growth was attributed to the sustained demand for models like A4, Q3, Q3 Sportback, Q5 and S5 Sportback. He also said that Delhi and Mumbai continued to lead the demand for Audi cars in the festive season, while cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad too recorded good demand. Speaking about the luxury car market, he noted that sales in the segment in 2023 would surpass 2018 volumes and reach about 47,000 units mark. "As a company, we are looking to end the year with a high double-digit growth," he added.

Not only Mercedes-Benz and Audi, but another German luxury carmaker BMW too witnessed impressive sales performance in 2023. BMW Group India President Vikram Pawah has attributed that performance to the launch of new products. He also said that BMW will continue to launch new products to keep that momentum going.

The Indian luxury car market was valued at $1.06 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach over $1.54 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of more than 6.4 per cent during the 2022-2027 period. The 89-day festive period this year between August 17 and November 14 saw overall passenger vehicle retail sales cross the 10 lakh mark, claimed the report. The 71-day festive season last year had witnessed sales of around 8.10 lakh units.