General Motors has said no to the launch of its Cadillac brands of luxury cars in India. This is in total contrast to other luxury car companies like Mercedes, BMW and Audi which are looking to expand their markets. General Motors says that's its looking to increase sales under the Chevrolet brand and is not considering any plan for the Cadillac in India.
Market for luxury cars has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Its has been estimated that about 25,000 luxury car units have been sold in 2011, while demand this year is under pressure due to rising interest rates and slow economic growth.
Other than German car makers, companies like Toyota and Nissan are looking to launch their cars in India. Lexus from Toyota and Infiniti from Nissan are two luxury car brands that may see the light in the India car market. While Toyota has made a firm commitment for launching the Lexus in India, the same can't be said for the Infiniti. High import duty for fully built luxury cars is one of the main reasons keeping luxury cars off the Indian markets in the past few years. Import duty as of now is about 130 per cent on a single unit.
