[PlatzdaTurbo]

Wow ! Go Audi !
& i dont quite get the sentence - Poor A8 just has 1 year to go before the new S sedan is out
Well for starts, it could mean that in the 1 year, the A8 could manage to sell numbers which they could not have even imagined with the previous generation & besides, new generation or not there obviously will be people who would STILL buy the A8 even after the new S is out. Audi's numbers being so close to BMW's in January 2011 has definitely a lot to do with the A8 launch as if i have heard correct, the A8 has already received a surprisingly high number of bookings to its credit since BEFORE its launch.
w222 beating rivals by a huge margin is a bit extreme IMO.

[S350L-E240]

PlatzaTurbo,

Yes, it may sound extreme when I say the S will outsell the competetion by a big margin, and by that I do not mean the others are bad, infact the A8 from inside really re-defines what a luxury car is, infact I prefer it over the XJ too, and the 7 while gorgeous from the outside it's interiors only make me feel like I am in the 5.

But what the S-Class has is one long heritage and brand image which is why it manages to hold up well enough in it's last year of life cycle compared to the competetion which are only 1 or 2 years old and the A8 too while has the initial rush once it settles down will only be lower or close to the 7 or S, just like the A4, even though it's a much newer car and in a lot of ways better than the C and 3 but always has been behind them, and the A6 too was always behind the 5 and E even when it was the A6 with the E60 model. Audi sales are rising and it is great but it has a long way before it gets ahead of Mercedes & BMW in India.

And keeping all things aside the S has a big advantage of being assembled in India which not only brings the cost of car lower with most optional features as standard but also results in a huge difference of RTO cost, which is why in every post related to sales I keep wondering why BMW & Audi wont assemble the 7 and A8 only then one can see how they can stack up to the S.

I do give credit to Mercedes-Benz for being assemble the S from the time when we had the W220 model and monthly sales were at about 5-6 cars across the country, today that segment is about 100+ cars so I wonder what is stopping Audi and BMW from starting local production of them.

And about A8 getting a lot of bookings before launch is now pretty much a common thing in most (good) new cars, like the A8, X1, even the SLS has so many orders considering the segment and price band it is in.

In conclusion, I am not writing off the A8 at all, infact it is the best luxury car right now but there is something Audi India or their dealers do not do well to give it that extra push that is needed to geat really above BMW or Mercedes and that push should start with more locally produced models and being a lot more active. In the coming months with the A6 and A7 etc I am sure they will see a surge in volumes but then the competetion is not sleeping, which only makes life better for us.

Let this battle begin, but I truly cannot wait to sit in an A8 with the rear luxury seat.

Regards,

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by S350L-E240

PlatzaTurbo,

Yes, it may sound extreme when I say the S will outsell the competetion by a big margin, and by that I do not mean the others are bad, infact the A8 from inside really re-defines what a luxury car is, infact I prefer it over the XJ too, and the 7 while gorgeous from the outside it's interiors only make me feel like I am in the 5.

But what the S-Class has is one long heritage and brand image which is why it manages to hold up well enough in it's last year of life cycle compared to the competetion which are only 1 or 2 years old and the A8 too while has the initial rush once it settles down will only be lower or close to the 7 or S, just like the A4, even though it's a much newer car and in a lot of ways better than the C and 3 but always has been behind them, and the A6 too was always behind the 5 and E even when it was the A6 with the E60 model. Audi sales are rising and it is great but it has a long way before it gets ahead of Mercedes & BMW in India.

And keeping all things aside the S has a big advantage of being assembled in India which not only brings the cost of car lower with most optional features as standard but also results in a huge difference of RTO cost, which is why in every post related to sales I keep wondering why BMW & Audi wont assemble the 7 and A8 only then one can see how they can stack up to the S.

I do give credit to Mercedes-Benz for being assemble the S from the time when we had the W220 model and monthly sales were at about 5-6 cars across the country, today that segment is about 100+ cars so I wonder what is stopping Audi and BMW from starting local production of them.

And about A8 getting a lot of bookings before launch is now pretty much a common thing in most (good) new cars, like the A8, X1, even the SLS has so many orders considering the segment and price band it is in.

In conclusion, I am not writing off the A8 at all, infact it is the best luxury car right now but there is something Audi India or their dealers do not do well to give it that extra push that is needed to geat really above BMW or Mercedes and that push should start with more locally produced models and being a lot more active. In the coming months with the A6 and A7 etc I am sure they will see a surge in volumes but then the competetion is not sleeping, which only makes life better for us.

Let this battle begin, but I truly cannot wait to sit in an A8 with the rear luxury seat.

Regards,

Point put forth well and accepted
You are right. With Audi, its the perfect case of excellent products being let down by poor marketting and other (read Shreyans) issues.
I also agree with the fact that thanks to the long stint and image in India, the S will always have the upper hand over the other 3 but i just have my doubts over whether it would be a huge gap, thats all.
With the A8 , the reason why i am particualrly surprised is because of the very same reason , Audi India's problem of not being able to promote their products well enough ,no matter how potent they are.
Whether the initial response to the A8 is just a small nudge or it keeps going, remains to be seen.
For the sake of stiffer competition, (and a slight personal bias ofcourse ) i truly hope Audi pushes the tempo and make the other 2 run faster. With the Jan 11 figures, its a bright start. Fingers crossed

[akj53]

MUMBAI\DELHI: The luxury street is jammed with people waiting to drive away marquees such as Porsche Cayenne , BMW X1, Audi A8 and Mercedes S500, because carmakers are trailing speeding demand by up to six months.

Premium car sales in the country grew 70%, or at more than double the rate of the industry’s best expectation , in 2010 to 15,000 vehicles , throwing carmaker’s supply chain out of gear.

“While luxury carmakers stretched their best to meet the growth, demand far outstripped supply,” Mercedes Benz India sales and marketing director Debashish Mitra said.

Manufacturers are ramping up capacity to keep pace with record demand, but customers booking popular luxury cars now may have to wait for three to four months for delivery, industry officials said.

Besides, its order book is growing faster than supplies. Out of the 379 bookings it received for the Cayenne SUV in 2010, Porsche has managed to deliver only 131 cars. And the waiting period has gone up to six months.

German luxury carmaker BMW has increased production by almost three-fold at its Chennai plant to 8,000 cars per year. Yet, it failed to check the long-waiting backlog for its largest selling 5Series sedan and the newly launched X1 its compact sports utility vehicle , which now takes 4-6 months to reach customers.

Full article can be seen at

BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi fail to keep pace with Indian demand - The Economic Times

The JLR should also be in the same position although their numbers will be quite less due to their limited outlets. It will be interesting to know their numbers. If anybody has any info, please post the same.

Mods...... I am posting it here as there is no separate thread for this and the matter is being discussed in the above posts.

[sushantr5]

Waiting eagerly for February 2011 sales figures...

[Ram_NP]

MSIL has sold 1,01,543 units in domestic market and 10,102 units for exports.

Kizashi units shown are display/test vehicles to dealers. Details of Press release is attached.

[nurni76]

Hyundai sales down 5% in Feb. Exports have fallen by 18%, while domestic sales have grown by 5%
Business Line : Companies News : Hyundai Motor Feb sales down 5%

[bluevolt]

When February sales figures are coming up? i am dying to see effect of recall of ANHC. Maruti Kizashi and SX4 diesel numbers too would be interesting to note. Please bring them up GTO.

[CARDEEP]

Ford & Tata seems to have done well. Please refer ET Reports for the same:

Tata - Tata Motors sales up 12% in February - The Economic Times

Ford - Ford's February sales soar nearly three-fold - The Economic Times

However, even I am waiting for the vehicles-wise breakup of these sales numbers.

[CARDEEP]

Note from Mod : February 2011 sales have been released at this link. Please continue the discussion on the newer thread.

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Ford & Tata seems to have done well. Please refer ET Reports for the same:

Tata - Tata Motors sales up 12% in February - The Economic Times

Ford - Ford's February sales soar nearly three-fold - The Economic Times

However, even I am waiting for the vehicles-wise breakup of these sales numbers.

M&M's Feb sales up by 20%
Link - M&M auto sales up 20 pc in February - The Economic Times

- Sorry for back to back posts. Cause I posted the second one after some lag & could not edit the original post.