Audi may slip to No. 2 position by 2012 end

German car major Audi, which claims to have overtaken BMW India as the largest premium and luxury car maker in June, may end 2012 in the second spot due to supply constraints surrounding its compact sports utility vehicle Q3. If not for the shortfall, the Ingolstadt-based company may achieve the number one position in India in 2012 itself against the earlier target of 2014-15. 

The Q3 managed to get 500 bookings within a span of just 5 days and the company has already delivered 300 units in the last couple of months. It is hoping to sell another 200 in the next two months. 

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of new variant of A8, Audi India head Micheal Perschke told ET that the numbers game do matter to his company and he has set sight on a strong number two position for 2012. Also read: Audi A8L 4.2 TDI q Launched

"We are bumper to bumper, we are looking at opportunity to overtake, but once we overtake we want to consistently stay there. We had planned to be No. 2 by the end of this year; we made it in March, which was a surprise. We did not even think at all that we will be No. 1 this year, we achieved that in June. It was more of a lucky coincidence, but the focus this year is to be very solidly seeing the number two position and if we see window of opportunity, we might put some pressure on our opponents," said Perschke. 

Audi says it is confident of exceeding its target of 8,000 units in 2012. Perschke says the company has been nimble-footed and has backup plans to become the No. 1 player in 2014 if not in 2013. Audi, which advanced the launches of A4 and Q3, has grown by over 40 per cent in a market which grew just 9 per cent in the first six months of 2012 due to overall economic slowdown. In the first half of 2012, Audi sold 4,000 units, clocking an impressive 43 per cent growth. Sales figures for its main competitors in India, BMW and Mercedes Benz, were almost flat.