Facing A Rough Patch: Luxury Car Makers Mercedes, Audi, BMW See Sharp Dip In Sales

The luxury car market witnessed a jolt post-July in line with subdued passenger vehicle sales during the second half of 2018, Financial Express has reported.

The sales of Mercedes Benz India in the third quarter of the current calendar year (July-September 2018) diminished by 20 per cent to 3,728 units compared to the sale of 4,689 units last year. However, they have not revealed its numbers, but dealers said the November month sales were not the catching up like last year and has reported muted trends during December.

The report suggests that the company would record low sales numbers for the period ending December 2018, against 15,330 units sold in 2017. BMW India, which reported a 13 per cent increase in sales during January-June 2018, saw its sales bump down to 7 per cent at 2,744 units in the July-September quarter.

“The sale has gone down to 40 units from an average of 60 cars in the festive period," FE quoted a dealer.

Audi India, among the worst hit, reported a 11 per cent decline in sales during the first half of the ongoing year. The Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover had posted a sales growth of 66 per cent during the January-June period.

"The developments of the rupee in the past 12 months has not been promising. The festive season has not been as great as it would have been under normal circumstances,” Audi India Head Rahil Ansari was quoted saying by FE.

The financial market has negatively influenced customer sentiment. Hence, luxury car customers are holding their buying decisions.