The German luxury car maker, BMW decided to replace the President of its Indian subsidiary as the company is facing stiff competition from its close rival Audi, which too is a German marque. This move from company management came six months before the President's stipulated expiry of normal three years tenure. Presiding BMW India since April 2010, Andreas Schaaf has been called back to BMW headquarters in Munich. His position has been entitled to Philipp von Sahr, who hails from Luxemberg, Belgium.
This sudden shuffling of the positions and transferring Schaaf is quite surprising. This is because BMW is currently in the process to devise strategic plans to counter competition from Audi as well as Jaguar and Land Rover, which is owned by Tata Motors.
A spokesperson of BMW India refused to comment on the news or divulge any further information. He said, “It is part of a global realignment at BMW.”
Audi has been posing some serious challenge to its compatriot BMW after snatching the second spot in luxury car segment from Mercedes-Benz. The car maker recently sold 500 units of its latest offering, Audi Q3, a compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), in just five days since its launch. It also boasts of a 43 per cent growth in the Indian auto industry with 4,000 vehicles sold between the tenure of January-June 2012. In contrast, BMW reported a 1 per cent dip in sales even after selling 4,457 cars during the same period.
Head, Audi India, Michael Perschke, expressed that the car maker is optimistic about continuing the growth streak in second half of 2012 as well. He said, "Ours is a dynamic brand and we have set the pace for our next level of growth in India. Our product portfolio, innovative marketing initiatives and focus on dealer expansion are some of the prime drivers in this competitive scenario... we are confident of further boosting our sales despite the economic challenges like high fuel prices, inflation, reduction in retail loans and rupee devaluation.”
