Audi targets tier-II, III cities through 'Workshop First' strategy

Luxury carmaker Audi India Sunday said it has adopted a new strategy to expand its footprint by first setting up workshops in tier-II and III cities, followed by showrooms.

With the luxury car market getting relatively mature in India, Audi is working on the Workshop First strategy to expand its network across the country.

"The idea is always to identify locations, which will be important in the future. Audi will enter these cities with a Workshop First strategy," Rahil Ansari, Audi India head told PTI.

The company has many cities with a substantial car park and will make a gradual plan to enter them with first setting up a workshop, followed by establishing a showroom, he added.

Under this strategy, Audi India last month rolled out the first workshop in Vijayawada, where the company does not have a dealership yet. Before this, most of the customers used to take their cars to Hyderabad for servicing.

When asked how many such service units will be launched under this programme, Ansari said: "It is a scalable model for us. We may plan dedicated workshop-first in any region that makes a good business case for us and the dealers of that region."