Shocking News from Audi

India has always been a growing market for the luxury cars for nearly a decade. Most of the global luxury car makers have entered the market either by assembling or through direct import, even Ferrari which is likely to enter the market shortly. Audi which has been India for a while has threatened that the company may “scale back” investments and even “pull back” from the Indian market if the government goes ahead with its Budget proposal that changes the definition of completelyknocked down (CKD) cars resulting in a heavier import duty burden.

The Audi Q7 and Q5 which dominating in Luxury SUV market and A4 and A6 sedan are being in assembled in Audi's Aurangabad plant. The Budget provision stipulated a change in the definition of CKD cars which can lead the import duty on them going up from the current comfortable 10% to a pinching 60% (which is stipulated for fully-built cars).

If the new provision comes into play, there could be an over Rs 8 lakh hike in prices of entry-level cars of companies like BMW, Audi and Mercedes. The models affected could be all entry-level luxury cars. From BMW, these would include the 3-Series and 5-Series sedans and the X1 SUV; from Mercedes the C- and E-Class sedans; and from Audi the A4 and A6 sedans and the Q5 SUV.

[Source:economictimes.indiatimes]