Audi is India's favourite luxury car! But Mercedes isn't far behind!

The battle for leadership in India's luxury-car market has become fiercer, as the margin that separates the top two, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, narrowed to razor-thin in the just concluded fiscal year when both reported record sales.

Audi beat its global arch rival to the No. 1 spot by selling just 79 more vehicles in India in fiscal 2015: Audi sold 11,292 units, compared with Mercedes-Benz's 11,213 according to The Economic Times. The global front runner, BMW, lags the two rivals in India by a huge margin.

"We managed to outsell our competitor, despite having a limited product portfolio, on superior brand image and astounding consumer confidence," Audi India head Joe King told ET.

"We aim to maintain our leadership with an impressive line-up of new products in 2015." Mercedes-Benz remains India's fastest growing luxury car brand - it posted stellar sales performance in both the January-March period and fiscal year, helped by an array of new launches. Its last quarter sales of 3,566 units were 40% higher compared with the same period in 2014 and the best ever for the company in this market.

In the fiscal year, sales grew 17.5%. Mercedes-Benz claimed that its sales tally in the January-March quarter was at least 385 units more than the nearest rival, taking it to the top position based on quarterly sales.

Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, said the company has posted multiple sales records in 2015, including the best March sales when volume grew more than 50% from a year earlier. The performance has been the result of "a series of initiatives", he said. BMW, the other major player in the luxury car market, didn't disclose sales numbers for FY15.

Tata Motors-owned British luxury brand JLR refused to share sales data with ET. The Indian luxury-car market has witnessed an adrenaline rush with manufacturers launching a slew of new models and upgrades.
There are more in the offer this year. Audi will introduce its new sports car TT and also debut the next generation of its flagship Q7 SUV. Mercedes-Benz plans to bring 10 new products.