Warc, 6 March 2013
NEW DELHI: Many foreign carmakers have reported double-digit
sales growth in India, at the same time as numerous domestic manufacturers have
slashed prices in an attempt to halt falling sales.
Audi, the German luxury car maker, recorded a 29% increase
in unit sales during February and said its sports utility vehicle range had led
the way.
Tata, by contrast, saw unit sales fall 69% in February
compared to a year earlier and it announced it was cutting the prices of its
Indica and Manza range of passenger cars by up to Rs 50,000.
"We want to boost the morale of customers to give them
a value proposition and make it more attractive to improve weak market
sentiments," a Tata Motors spokesperson told The Economic Times.
Both manufacturers have to deal with the recent budget in
which the Indian government increased the excise duty on sports utility
vehicles from 27% to 30%.
"We will have to seriously evaluate the impact of this
hike on our prices and have no choice other than to pass it on to
customers," said Michael Perschke of Audi India.
Tata increased the prices of its sports utility vehicle
range by up to Rs 11,000 following the excise duty hike in the Budget, meaning
the total price increase could be as high as Rs 35,000.
Buyers of top-end models are regarded as being able to
afford the extra taxes. Takayuki Ishida, CEO of Nissan Motor India, indicated
that only one of his models might be affected and added that "normally
customers getting a 370Z do not care about (additional) duty costs".
He was speaking as he explained that Nissan was looking at
the possibility of setting up a new plant to build Datsun cars in India.
This comes on top of a recent announcement that an alliance
between Nissan and Renault, the French automaker, will invest $320m to set up a
second plant in India.
And Jaguar Land Rover, part of Tata Motors, is also reported
to be looking at the potential for manufacturing cars in India.
Data sourced from The Economic Times; additional content by
Warc staff
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