Luxury car sales in India in FY2023-24: Brief analysis & overview

The BMW iX was the best-selling EV in the luxury segment

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The Luxury Segment may have stagnated according to many of us. But, considering the competent cars that are currently present in the 30-50 lakh price bracket, the luxury car segment still grew by 20.5% in FY23-24 compared to FY22-23. Over 45,000 luxury cars were sold in FY23-24 in India.

Mercedes-Benz continued to rule the Indian Luxury Car Market in FY23-24.

• Mercedes-Benz: 17,013 Units
• BMW-Mini: 15,416 Units
• Audi: 7,027 Units
• Volvo: 3,061 Units
• JLR: 2,794 Units

No surprise, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class was the highest-selling luxury vehicle in FY23-24! Some things in favour of the E-Class:

• Acres of rear legroom for the chauffeur.
• Reclining rear seats, buttons to control the front passenger seat from the rear itself, electric sunblinds and sunroof controls are all available at the touch of a button.
• With 17-inch tyres, the ride quality is simply superb, it just glides over the worst of roads! The 18-inchers on the AMG Line variant now standard for all engines may just be slightly more stiffer.
• The LWB doesn't mean the car scrapes over speed-breakers either, a car that seems to have been tailored just for the Indian Market (apart from China)
• The E-Class V213 LWB has been such a success story for Mercedes-Benz India, that BMW India is planning to launch the ICE G60 5-series only in LWB guise for the Indian Market.

The X1 was a shocker for me and will be for many others, even after the engines have been detuned for India, sales have only increased rather than decreased, as most of us would've thought !! The added features attracted customers and the dulled-down performance didn't deter customers at the same time. The U11 X1 definitely deserves its own case-study.

A few more noteworthy mentions:

• The BMW X7 (1644 units) pips the Mercedes-Benz GLS (1529 units) marginally in FY23-24.
• The GLE, GLA and GLC continue to remain strong performers for Mercedes-Benz. The GLE posted some really healthy numbers for the price segment it belongs in.
• The 6GT sold in high numbers posting a 170.4% growth compared to FY22-23, due to being available with some great discounts to clear remaining stock, considering it has been globally discontinued and will be replaced with the 5 series LWB soon.
• The Audi Q3 witnessed the highest growth of 301.8% amongst all ICE SUVs, thanks to some great discounts being offered on it and a Petrol engine that doesn't feel like a compromise compared to its rivals!
• JLR (posted double-digit growth) should hail the Defender as their mighty warrior! The boxy design mingles old-school design language with modern-age tech making it an instant hit, is well-priced compared to something like the G-Class and has a vast number of variants & style options making it their best-seller (1314 units) by far, the Velar being their 2nd best selling (556 units) SUV.
• The uber-expensive full-fat Range Rover (394 units) and G-Class (219 units) sold exceptionally well for the price and waiting periods they command once specced up to high standards.
• The BMW iX was the best-selling EV in the luxury segment, the exterior design didn't seem to deter buyers it seems and accounts for 52% of BMW's EV sales in India.
• The Velar and F-Pace have great potential to take on the GLC, X3, Q5 and XC60, but the lack of intent by JLR just shows through! Feature deletions, lame 2L petrol and diesel engines at almost a crore and iffy after-sales push customers towards the Germans.
• No sales data has been released for the X5, which is surprising considering it was launched in July '23 and has always sold more than what the X3 has managed in previous FYs.
• An interesting fact in the Luxury SUV segment is that buyers either prefer the entry-level premium SUVs (X1, GLA, Q3 and the likes) or go the full hog with the full-size premium SUVs (GLE, GLS, X5, X7, Q7 and the likes) and tend to skip the mid-size premium SUV segment (X3, Evoque, Discovery Sport, Velar, F-Pace, Q5 and the likes. The GLC being the only exception).
• The 3 series being only available in Gran Limousine guise now, meaning a much higher entry point into the 3 series brand compared to when the standard wheelbase model was available, did take a small toll on its sales. But like the E-Class, the 3 GL has carved a segment for itself.
• The Q7, once a Bollywood favourite, sells far less than what it's usually compared with (the X7 and GLS) an far less than its true competitor the GLE.

Source: Autocar India / JATO Dynamics

PS: This was just a brief overview of the Luxury Car Sales for FY23-24. Waiting for BHPian pqr's greater in-depth Analysis of the Luxury Car Sales in FY23-24

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