Luxury car sales boom post-second wave

While the pandemic eroded an average Indian’s disposable income and adversely impacted the sale of affordable cars, it did not hurt the pockets of the rich going for luxury cars. In fact, the luxury car sales have witnessed an uptick after the second wave of the pandemic.

The period of April to August 2021 witnessed 7,476 luxury cars being sold, up 91.45% from 3,905 cars sold during the corresponding period last year. While the April-August period of the last year saw a dip in the numbers owing to the national lockdown to control the Covid pandemic, the same period this year saw the numbers rising steadily despite the second wave of the pandemic.

Luxury car sales more than doubled in August this year at 2,277 cars compared to 1,129 cars sold in the same month last year, data available with the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) shows.

After the luxury car sales in April (1,426 units) and May (461) witnessed an intermittent dip this year owing to lockdowns in various states, June (1,183), July (2,129), and August have seen the numbers going up steadily.

The luxury retail segment included brands like Audi, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz, and Porsche. Some of these automakers recorded more than 100% year-on-year growth in their retail car sales during the April-August period.

Bentley Motors Limited sold 14 cars during April-August 2021, registering almost four times growth over the sales recorded in the same period last year (3 units). Audi AG (331) and Mercedes Benz AG (202), grew over two times from their retail sales in the April- August period last year, which stood at 107 and 60 respectively.

Porsche (117) and Lamborghini (23) recorded more than 150% and 100% year-on-year growth, respectively, in their numbers for the same period. Besides these, Mercedes Benz India (3,116), BMW (2,443) and Jaguar (788) recorded 95%, 88% and 90% growth, respectively, over their April-August 2020 numbers.

Rolls Royce (6 units) and Ferrari India (2) were the only ones to record a dip in their April-August 2021 retail car sales, less by 14% and 60%, respectively, compared to their numbers in the same period last year.