The Economic Times on Sunday The Economic Times on Sunday How trucks are changing MARCH 25-31, 2012 16 cover story MARCH 25-31, 2012 17 cover story our taste p.26 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 BMW Mercedes-Benz Audi GLOBAL MARKET BRAND POSITIONING GLOBAL MARKET BRAND POSITIONING GLOBAL MARKET BRAND POSITIONING Report Card The luxury car brand targets younger A symbol of power. The ultimate car for Like BMW, it targets young buyers who love € € € Revenue: 69 billion customers. Often self-driven, it lays thrust Revenue: 57.4 billion those who have arrived and is almost Revenue: 44.1 billion to drive. The car emphasises design and PBT**: €7.3 billion on speed and emphasises on driving as Profit (EBIT*): €4.6 billion always chauffeur driven. The brand PBT**: €6 billion style rather than speed (BMW’s thrust). pleasure. Its advertising campaigns often symbolises social status with the tagline Positioned as a well-engineered stylish car, Unit Sales: 1.67 million show the car being driven around. Its Unit Sales: 1.26 million “The best or nothing”, says Pradeep Saxena, Unit Sales: 1.3 million its tagline is ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in Position in China: 2 tagline is “joy forever” Position in China: 3 executive director, TNS Automotive Position in China: 1 German, meaning ‘Lead by Technology’ Position in the US: 1 Position in the US: 2 Position in the US: 4 Other Marquee Brands in Other Marquee Brands in Other Marquee Brands in Stable: Stable: Rolls Royce, MINI model X1 available at `23.7 lakh. It will further Stable: Maybach working on its model line-ups, marketing and brand Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti wrest away the No. 2 slot on the back of volume strengthen its portfolio by bringing in its MINI range, positioning to keep them aligned. For example, the driver Q3’s launch this summer, which will lower INDIA MARKET a new 3 Series and the new M5 sometime soon. On INDIA MARKET luxury brand is now increasingly emphasising on INDIA MARKET Audi’s entry threshold. The Q3 will compete with the back of all this, the country head Andreas Schaff performance and sportiness of its brand in India. It is BMW’s X1 — a model which has given BMW a sig- Unit Sales: 9,371 is hoping to make India among the top 10 countries Unit Sales: 7,430 now closely associated with F1 in India. Further, the Unit Sales: 5,511 nificant jump in volumes. Top Selling Model: X1 for BMW globally in the next 10 years. Top Selling Model: C-Class company has brought in performance cars from its Top Selling Models: A4 & A6 Audi is also looking to launch more volume At its Chennai plant, BMW assembles 3, 5 series AMG stable to appeal to young Indian buyers. models by 2013, among which the A3 sportback No. of Models: 34 Cheapest Model: C-Class 200 Classic No. of Models: 10 and X1 while others like X3, X5 are imported as a It is planning to invest `350 crore as part of its (large hatchback) is being considered after a Cheapest Model: BMW X1 fully built unit. But with growing sales, it may set up at `26 lakh strategy to introduce new small and compact cars in Cheapest Model: Audi (A4) at recent customer meet. Expected to push Audi’s Drive18i at `23.7 lakh its second plant by 2015. It might also scale up its Most Expensive Model: S-Class 600 India by 2015. The company is expected to bring in `27.69 lakh entry pricing further down, the A3 competes with manufacturing facility from just complete knock- its B-class — front-wheel-drive small family car Mercedes’ B-Class. The B-Class is scheduled to be Most Expensive Model: BMW Pullman Guard (used by President of Most Expensive Model: Audi R8 down (CKD) kits . Their local component sourcing, India and most heads of state across sometime around the festival season (October- launched in India soon. In 2012, the German luxu- 760Li at `1.31 crore currently low, will rise. Already, they have a global November) this year. Currently Mercedes’ cheapest Spyder at around `1.5 crore ry carmaker will launch an improved version of the globe); costs `6 crore upwards Reach: 25 dealers in 18 cities sourcing team here to cater to their global needs and car is the C-Class. With B-Class hatchbacks, it will Reach: 15 dealers in 15 cities the A4 sedan, apart from the Q3. have identified 20 vendors so far. This number Reach: 60 dealers in 29 cities lower the entry threshold. The B-Class hatch, owing Audi head Michael Perschke is hoping to sell a *Earnings before interest and tax should go up in future. Unit Sales for 2011 to its styling and agile contours will be positioned **Profit before tax minimum of 50,000 cars by 2020 (5,511 in 2011). Unit sales for 2011 Its marketing strategy has largely been to create as sports tourer. During the next few years, Mer- Unit Sales for 2011 This will involve “deep indigenisation” as volumes touch points like professional golf tournaments, wine cedes-Benz has planned the introduction of most of grow. The biggest weapon that Audi has vis-à-vis tasting sessions and events with fashion designers. its 10 new global cars in India, and for this it is con- the other big two is that it is part of the bigger INDIA STRATEGY Last year they organised an Xperience Drive in Gur- sidering assembly of its SUVs ML, GL and GLC-Class INDIA STRATEGY Volkswagen Group which has and is investing big Global & India INDIA STRATEGY MW is aggressive and fast — and its Indi- gaon which brought in international trainers with a here. The company has recognised the need for sums on plant and infrastructure in India. Audi an journey proves that. Within four years live performance by the Australian Raw BANG. A test his is the oldest and the best luxury car more compact cars in countries like India and China he second largest luxury car seller in and Skoda share an assembly plant in Aurangabad of its launch, the company unseated Mer- course — with 10 obstacles — was especially India has known. It set up India operations and assembling them in local markets is considered the world and the third largest in India while parent company, Volkswagen, has commis- cedes to become the top-selling luxury designed to bring out X range’s special features. in 1994 and has the best infrastructure beneficial. With better localisation of content, they is nurturing some serious India ambi- sioned a full-fledged production facility in Chakan. Bcar in India — its market share has moved BMW is growing its dealer network and hopes to among the three in terms of dealer reach will have a pricing edge over others. On the back of tions. By 2015, Audi says it will be the “In China Audi leads because of its first mover up from 9% in 2006 to 42% in 2011. Appealing to the touch the 60 mark by 2015. With 80% of its cars T and domestic component sourcing which all this, as Indian luxury car market expands, the T largest luxury car seller in India as well advantage, localisation and good adaptation to the younger buyers (average age of a BMW buyer is 40 being financed by its own financial services arm, stands at around 34%. But the leader has been on the company is hoping to sell around 55,000-60,000 as the world. Currently they have a marketshare local market,” says China-based Bill Russo, years), it has introduced a varying product range at BMW financing is a brisk business. Its recently backfoot ever since younger and peppier BMW cars (from current 7,430) by 2020. of around 20% but they are the fastest growing founder, Synergistic. Now it is getting its India act different price levels — starting with its cheapest launched used-car business BMW Premium Selec- unseated it in 2009. Mercedes is now reorienting its This is part of the bigger plan for Mercedes to luxury car company among the three. In 2012, together with at least one “heavy-hitting” launch tion will soon be available across all its dealerships. India strategy to target the youth. The company is regain its top slot in India. Audi is widely expected to beat Mercedes and every year, starting with Q3 this year. “Indians won’t buy anything without a “We believe in value to the customer and enhanced “India is an endurance game. good bargain — even in the luxury segment” Andreas Schaaf, President, BMW India profit rather than volume leadership” Peter Honegg, MD, Mercedes-Benz India You have to think long term” Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India Merc BMW Clearly, Mercedes-Benz has per- 5 Hot Launches of 2012 formed well in quality in the recent *DEPENDABILITY **APEAL RANKING? past — both in terms of initial quality Vehicle Vehicle and longer-term quality. BMW per- Audi RANKING Audi The ranking study BMW Merc examines how gratifying formed better in terms of feature con- Dependability It measures problems Apeal tenting and delighting consumers experienced during the a new vehicle is to own past 12 months by and drive, based on via styling and vehicle layout.