BMW India

BMW keeps lead in luxury car market

BMW keeps lead in luxury car market with 73% growth in 2010.Boosted by strong sales of sedans; Mercedes, Audi follow.

BMW India announced that it has maintained its lead in the luxury car market for the second year in a row. In 2010, the German carmaker sold 427 units more than compatriot automaker Mercedes-Benz.

The company's total sales rose 73 per cent in the year to 6,246 units, largely on the strong sales of its sedans — 3 series sales doubled in the year to 2,432 units and the 5 series sold 2,403 units. With other popular models such as the 7 series saloon and X5 SUV selling 535 and 228 units, respectively, the company held on to a 40 per cent share of the segment. In 2009, BMW sold 3,619 units — 369 units more than Mercedes-Benz.

Last month, BMW also launched its cheapest model in India — the X1 crossover at a starting price of Rs 22 lakh. With rival Mercedes-Benz's product prices starting at a higher Rs 27.75 lakh (C-Class), BMW hopes that the X1 would help it retain pole position this year. The company, which entered India in 2007, currently assembles the X1, 3 and 5 series sedans at its Chennai plant.

Mercedes-Benz India sold 5,819 units in 2010, registering a higher growth over BMW in the year at 80 per cent. The largest volumes were garnered by the E-Class (2,490 units) and C-Class (2,070 units) sedans, while the SUV range of M-Class, GL-Class and R-Class sold 523 units in total. Mercedes-Benz assembles the C, E and S class sedans in India.

The third German competitor in the segment — Volkswagen group company Audi — came third on sales of 3,003 units in 2010. With sales rising 81 per cent in 2010, Audi India expects more than 50 per cent growth in 2011. The company is also expected to launch the new A6 and A8 L (extended wheelbase) sedans this year.

Luxury car market:

In the last two years, the growth has been phenomenal. With rising income levels, the age group of customers buying luxury cars has significantly come down to around 40-45 years from 50-55 years. It is important to now have a large portfolio and offer more cars at entry prices to build the brand and volumes.

The overall luxury car market grew around 60 per cent this year to more than 15,000 units. To further boost growth in the world's second fastest growing auto market, players such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi are now rapidly expanding their network to smaller cities, starting a financial services arm and expanding their used car business.

IPL 2011: Intelligent Business

IPL auction: Insight (day 2)

Boredom and surprise mark second day; no bids for over 100 players

The two-day IPL auction ended today with the little known Australian all-rounder Daniel Christian going for the highest price of $900,000 with Deccan Chargers bagging him by paying 18 times his base price.

While there was nothing remotely catholic about Saturday's bidding with franchises fighting it out furiously, today's proceedings were subdued as team owners had just about $19.5 million to splurge around.

The mood was so sombre that nobody bid for over a hundred players. But, like a Bollywood script that is boring in the first half but still delivers kicks towards the end, the IPL auction saw some end-game excitement that saw Mohammed Kaif being auctioned for a third time.

The big surprise on Day Two was that in spite of two rounds of re-auction, critics' favourite Saurav Ganguly's name did not come up. During the first round of re-auction, 28 players came up for rebidding but only 12 were picked up and for the second round, even out of this 12, eight saw no bidding – that is, they were snapped up at the base price.

Only one player, Mohammed Kaif, was put up for a third time at Pune's request and since none of the other franchises objected, ‘the re-re-auction', as the auctioneer put it, was permitted. Surprisingly, though Pune and Deccan Chargers bid for Kaif, he was finally bagged by Royal Challengers, Bangalore (RCB) for $130,000, 30 per cent more than his base price.

Thanks to this purchase, RCB's purse runs very low on funds, a point noted by franchise owner Mr Vijay Mallya at a press conference shortly after the bidding ended.

Now, RCB has just $360,000 left of the original $9 million cap for all teams.

Players who didn't make it include Sanath Jayasuria, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle, clearly showing that most foreign players had been discounted. The bids for uncapped players will open on Monday with a salary cap of Rs 32 lakh.

Youngsters preferred

There also seemed to be a strong preference for youngsters, a point made by Mr Mallya when asked why his team didn't bid for Rahul Dravid. He said that while he had every respect for this cricketer, RCB was committed to building a young team.

There was some drama while bidding for the under-rated Indian team medium pacer Vinay Kumar who finally went to Team Kochi for $475,000 which was nearly four times his base price. Royal Challengers made a valiant bid but couldn't retain him, something the franchisee's owner, Mr Mallya regretted later.

Mumbai Indians, which lost Zaheer Khan to RCB, managed to get Munaf Patel on its side for $700,000.

Pacer Umesh Yadav was bid for furiously and Delhi Daredevils were able to buy him for $750,000 though his base price was a low $50,000.

‘Moods' : Power Brand

‘Moods' among top-selling condom brands in the UAE:

‘Moods,' the popular condom brand from Thiruvananthapuram-based HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL), is now among the top three premium condom brands in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

HLL is India's leading provider of a wide range of contraceptives, hospital products, pharma products and health care solutions.

HLL products are being exported to over 115 countries spanning seven continents, of which,‘Moods' condoms are exported to more than 40 countries.

A recent survey by AC Nielsen Moods had raised Moods, an umbrella brand, to the exalted position in the UAE.

This comes close on the heels of it becoming the first brand to be registered by the Health Ministry of the UAE.

According to the AC Nielsen report, the brand's growth in the Middle East is 33 per cent volume-wise and 47 per cent value-wise.

‘Moods' has recently been recognised as one of the 200 ‘Power Brands' in India by Power Brands of India.

Consumer Superbrand

‘Moods' has also been selected as a consumer ‘Superbrand' in India. The Rs 40 crore-property has been growing at a rate of 23 per cent over the past few years, the spokesman added.

It had recently got formal registration with the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA).

‘Moods' brand has been available in the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman markets since 2008.

High quality standards, brand appeal and affordability with an excellent distribution and marketing back-up have been responsible for its success in West Asia , the spokesman pointed out.

Global brand

HLL has proved that an Indian brand can compete with global brands in terms of quality.

Registering its presence in West Asia is a significant step towards making Moods a global brand.

The 40 importing countries include such diverse markets as the UK, Ireland, Latvia, Venezuela, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Trinidad and Tobago.

HLL foresees tremendous growth in demand for condoms in the future and has set its objective to be a leading player in this space.

HLL will be vying for a share in this market with other leading brands.

HLL has a strong distribution network in all GCC countries through channel partners. It is sold through more than 2,500 retail outlets that include hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, groceries, gas stations and pharmacies which account for more than 40 per cent of the total category outlets. HLL has also launched ‘Makesure,' the pregnancy test card in 2009, which is now available in major outlets in the GCC.