Audi overtakes BMW in luxury car race in June 2012, BMW says numbers exaggerated

Audi overtakes BMW in luxury car race in June 2012, BMW says numbers exaggerated

Driven by the success of its sports utility vehicle Q3, car maker Audi has taken the top spot in the luxury car market from BMW in June this year.

But, BMW has challenged Audi’s sales figures, saying they reflect wholesale numbers and not retail sales.

Audi, which was number three in the pecking order in February, has seen sales move up impressively after it wrested the number two slot from German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz in March.

According to data from industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the Ingolstadt-based Audi has more than doubled sales to 759 units in June, from 354 units in the year-ago period. BMW, which has ruled the Indian luxury car market since March 2010, fell behind marginally with sales of 750 units. BMW registered the highest cumulative sales of 2,088 units in the segment for the quarter ended June.

BMW says Audi is exaggertaing its numbers. “Audi has sold only 718 units in the retail market compared to 750 sold by us. What they have given to SIAM are wholesale numbers but we have given retail numbers,” says the company. SIAM executives clarified all car makers reported wholesale data, refusing to get into the companies’ claims and counter-claims.
src-BS