Who is the real No. 1 luxury car maker in India?

So who is the Hero No. 1 of the India luxury car market?

Audi claims that in the month of June 2012 the company sold 759 vehicles. BMW’s numbers are 750. Mercedes Benz sold 622 cars. So with a lead of 9 vehicles, Audi edges BMW to become India’s No. 1 manufacturer of luxury cars. Not so fast, says BMW.

BMW claims that Audi has reported wholesale numbers to Society of Indian Automobile manufacturers (SIAM) while it has reported retail sales. So it is not an apples to apples comparison.

Wholesale means cars that are billed to dealers. Retail sales mean cars which have actually been sold to customers. BMW claims that Audi sold only 718 vehicles (retail sales) compared to BMW’s 750. Of course, exactly how BMW managed to get Audi's retail sales number is bit of a mystery but its claim is that BMW is still the No. 1. Now add another twist to it. SIAM is the body responsible for collecting and disseminating sales data of all car/two wheeler/commercial vehicle manufacturers in India. And SIAM says that it never accepts anything but wholesale data from manufacturers. And it wouldn't acknowledge or comment on whether BMW’s sales numbers are retail or wholesale.

Now if you are in the business of writing about/following the automotive industry in India, you would know that this wholesale/retail number allegation game has been on between these three German luxury car manufacturers for quite sometime now. Mercedes Benz says that it will stand by what SIAM recognizes and that’s wholesale data. BMW says that globally it reports retail sales, so it cannot make an exception for India. I understand that Audi shares retail sales data too. Although I am intrigued how the wholesale data for the month of June 2012 made it to the SIAM’s data sheet which has led to this confusion.

SIAM is absolutely miffed with all this. I spoke to a SIAM executive on this matter about a month back and this is what he had to say. “This has become an absolute joke. We have taken up the matter in the executive committee meeting and sent a letter to all three manufacturers that they should wholesale numbers only. But till now they have not done it,” he said. He went on to add that this confusion on the numbers has led to many people questioning the sanctity of SIAM’s data. I think SIAM really needs to come out and clear the air over whether it is going to accept retail numbers from BMW and Audi. If not then there is bound to be confusion and endless instances of bragging rights to the No. 1 position.

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.