After COVID-19 played spoilsport for two years, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Land Rover registered significant growth in FY2022.
One phenomenon that has stood post the COVID-19 pandemic is the strong demand for luxury products, be they cars, diamonds or watches. Emotional goods like luxury cars have been among the first to recover from a difficult two years, driven potentially by the FOMO-YOLO (Fear of Missing Out, You Only Live Once) effect.
After two years of tepid sales, demand in the luxury car market has bounced back, and how. As per JATO Dynamics India’s sales data of seven carmakers, total sales rose to 27,647 units in FY2022, constituting near-40 percent year on year growth.
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class was the bestselling luxury car in India
- BMW and Audi recorded greater growth in sales than Mercedes-Benz
- Bucking the trend, Jaguar recorded very high decline in sales
FY2022 luxury car sales: Mercedes-Benz on the top, BMW follows
Leading the charge and driving the momentum for the segment is Mercedes-Benz India, which sold 11,763 units – 3,063 units more than in FY2021 – and registered a 35 percent growth.
While there has been balanced demand for both sedans and SUVs, the LWB E-Class continues to remain the brand’s bestselling model with 2,839 units followed by the GLC SUV with 1,922 units. Other in-demand models were the new GLA (1,638 units), GLE (1,080 units), GLS (836 units) and G-Class (78 units).
BMW India, the second player, sold 8,527 units to record a 45 percent growth. The bestseller by far was the X1 with 2,241 units followed by the 3 Series sedan with 1,983 units. All BMW sedans other than the 7 and 8 Series logged growth. In SUVs, the X1, X5 and X7 were in demand, but sales fell for the X3, X4 and X6.
Land Rover posted a 39 percent growth with 1,766 units and the Range Rover Evoque was the bestseller with 406 units. This was followed by the Velar (374 units) and RR Sport (206 units), while the Land Rover Defender and Discovery Sport added 335 and 327 units, respectively.
Volvo India, with 1,466 units, saw a five percent growth with the XC60 SUV remaining the bestseller with 575 units. The XC40 with 522 units and S60 sedan with 225 units were the other growth drivers.
Mini was in positive territory too with 634-unit sales, but Jaguar, which sold just 195 units in FY2022, saw demand slide by 73 percent over FY2021’s 692 units. The XE, XF and F-Pace all saw substantial declines while the I-Pace sold 69 units compared to the seven units in FY2021.
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