BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi are the 3 dominant German car manufacturers who are ruling the roost in the country’s luxury car segment today. All 3 have around 8-10 models in India which compete right from price points to performance. BMW 3 Series, Mercedes Benz C Class, Audi A4 and Nissan Teana are the lowest priced entry point cars for each respective manufacturer. They are priced between Rs. 22 lakhs, and Rs. 35 lakhs. At next level we have the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes Benz E Class, Jaguar XF, Volvo C70, Volvo S80 and Audi A6 which are available between Rs. 35 lakhs and Rs. 60 lakhs.
In the premium luxury car segment, BMW has the 7 Series, Mercedes Benz has S Class, Audi has A8, and Jaguar has XFR and XKR with all these cars available for a price between Rs. 75 lakhs and Rs. 1.2 crores. The super luxury segment has even powerful engine specs, and higher standards of luxury. In this segment we have, Bentley Continental, Rolls Royce Phantom and Rolls Royce Ghost, Mercedes Benz S Class S63 AMG and S65 AMG, which are priced between Rs. 1.5 crores to Rs. 4.5 crores.
With Mercedes Benz having been the only luxury car provider in India for decades, it may come as a surprise to some to see BMW being the luxury car leader in India for the past two years despite having made an entry only in 2006. Effective marketing and a range of luxury cars saw the company emerge as leaders within