CEOs, Country Heads, Brand Directors, Heads of Sales and Heads of Aftersales for luxury-automotive OEMs, hypercar houses and ultra-luxury mobility platforms in India.
Luxury Automotive
Executive Search
26+ Luxury Auto Placements — typical mandates close in 105-130 days, with a 12-month candidate guarantee.
Specialisation withinLuxury Goods & Services·Crafting the Category of Desire
India's luxury-automotive market spans German premium-luxury OEM India units, British and Italian ultra-luxury and supercar marques, Swedish and Japanese luxury OEMs, manufacturer-certified pre-owned platforms, multi-brand luxury-car retail groups, and a fast-emerging luxury-EV charging-infrastructure ecosystem. The major players include Mercedes-Benz India, BMW Group India (BMW + MINI + BMW Motorrad), Audi India, Jaguar Land Rover India (Tata), Volvo Cars India, Porsche India, Lamborghini India, Ferrari India, Maserati India, Bentley India, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars India, Aston Martin India, McLaren India and Lotus India. The market represents one of the world's fastest-growing ultra-luxury-car geographies, with Mercedes-Benz crossing 18,000 units, BMW and Audi each past 13,000–15,000 units, and ultra-luxury growing 30–45% year-on-year driven by UHNI demand in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune.
Is This Your Situation?
If any of these sound familiar, you're speaking to the right practice.
→A global luxury OEM needs a Country Head to re-architect dealer-network profitability and lead 25,000-unit-mark push
→An ultra-luxury marque seeks a Brand Director to launch India operations with an India-first configurator and clienteling programme
→A luxury OEM requires a Head of EV Strategy to land the i7 / EQS / Taycan / Lucid / Eletre rollout with ultra-fast-charging partnerships
→A multi-brand luxury-retail group needs a CEO for consolidation and IPO-readiness across Maharashtra, Karnataka and NCR dealerships
Our Luxury Cars Track Record
Situation:
A global luxury OEM sought a Country Head to re-architect dealer-network profitability and push for the 20,000-unit-mark.
Outcome:
Placed a candidate with prior global-OEM India stewardship in 104 days; volumes grew 28% and dealer-net-margin lifted by 140 bps in year one.
Situation:
An ultra-luxury marque needed a Brand Director to launch India operations with an India-first configurator and concours programme.
Outcome:
Placed a candidate with European-brand-director pedigree in 96 days; order book exceeded 18-month targets within the first six months.
All client details anonymised. Specific mandates available for reference under NDA upon request.
Our Luxury Cars Practice
India's luxury-automotive market spans German premium-luxury OEM India units, British and Italian ultra-luxury and supercar marques, Swedish and Japanese luxury OEMs, manufacturer-certified pre-owned platforms, multi-brand luxury-car retail groups, and a fast-emerging luxury-EV charging-infrastructure ecosystem. The major players include Mercedes-Benz India, BMW Group India (BMW + MINI + BMW Motorrad), Audi India, Jaguar Land Rover India (Tata), Volvo Cars India, Porsche India, Lamborghini India, Ferrari India, Maserati India, Bentley India, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars India, Aston Martin India, McLaren India and Lotus India. The market represents one of the world's fastest-growing ultra-luxury-car geographies, with Mercedes-Benz crossing 18,000 units, BMW and Audi each past 13,000–15,000 units, and ultra-luxury growing 30–45% year-on-year driven by UHNI demand in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune.
The sector demands leaders who can navigate BS-VI + CAFE emission norms, CNG / EV transition, PLI-Auto scheme, GST 28% + cess structure on luxury cars, state-level road-tax architecture, type-approval via ARAI / ICAT, and UHNI clienteling through private-preview events, track days, and concours programmes. Our practice covers MDs, CEOs, Country Heads, Brand Directors, Heads of Sales, Heads of Aftersales, Heads of Network Development, Chief Financial Officers and Chief Marketing Officers for luxury-OEM India units, certified-pre-owned luxury platforms and multi-brand luxury-car retail groups.
As a specialist Country Head mandates in luxury OEMs, our practice also covers CMO placements in luxury automotive, our practice also covers Luxury Goods & Services practice overview, and as a source for Luxury — private banking & UHNI wealth.
The Luxury Cars Landscape Today
India's luxury-automotive market crossed 50,000 units in 2025 (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, JLR, Volvo, Porsche, Lexus), with ultra-luxury (Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, McLaren, Maserati) adding 1,200+ units growing 30–45% YoY. EV-luxury (EQS / EQE / iX / i7 / Taycan / e-tron / I-PACE) now contributes 12–18% of mix and rising. Dealer consolidation (Landmark, Group Landmark, Auto Hangar, Navnit, T&T, Deutsche Motoren) and certified-pre-owned scale are reshaping the leadership agenda.
Key Leadership Challenges in Luxury Cars
Navigating BS-VI + CAFE emission norms, EV transition, battery-import BCD and PLI-Auto compliance across luxury portfolios
Scaling hypercar and ultra-luxury clienteling (track days, concours, factory tours, peer-tier private-preview programmes) for UHNI buyers
Managing dealer-network economics amid GST 28% + cess and state-road-tax asymmetry (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu)
Driving certified-pre-owned scale and residual-value management across manufacturer-backed pre-owned programmes
Building luxury-EV charging architecture (ultra-fast chargers, home-installation programmes and luxury-EV launch readiness)
Attracting Heads of Sales and Aftersales with UHNI-relationship depth and global-OEM governance fluency
What We Look For in Luxury Cars Leaders
Across mandates, luxury cars leadership tends to cluster into a small set of archetypes. We calibrate each search against the profile your board actually needs — not the one most commonly available.
The Luxury-OEM MD
A luxury-OEM MD with global-HQ governance, dealer-network-economics command and UHNI-clienteling depth.
The Ultra-Luxury Brand Director
An ultra-luxury brand director (Rolls-Royce / Bentley / Lamborghini / Ferrari) with concours / track-day programme and bespoke-commissioning experience.
The Head of Sales
A luxury-sales leader with multi-city P&L, configurator-and-order-book discipline and aggressive-volume-growth track record.
The Head of Aftersales
An aftersales leader with multi-brand service-network discipline, recall-management depth and CSI / NPS stewardship.
The Head of EV Strategy
An EV-strategy leader with luxury-EV launch experience, charging-infrastructure-partnership depth and residual-value management credibility.
The Certified-Pre-Owned Head
A CPO / pre-owned-luxury leader with residual-value modelling depth, inventory-financing fluency and Tier-2 / 3 expansion command.
Regulatory & Compensation Context
Regulatory Backdrop
Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (as amended 2019); Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989; BS-VI emission norms and CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) Norms Phase II / III; Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) administered by ARAI / ICAT; Type Approval / Conformity of Production; Bharat NCAP norms; PLI Scheme for Automobile & Auto Components (₹25,938 Cr outlay) and PLI-Auto for EVs / ACC batteries; FAME-II / EV policy (central and state EV policies — Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat); GST (28% + Compensation Cess of 17–22% on luxury cars; EV at concessional 5%); BCD on CBU / CKD / SKD imports; Customs Act 1962; Consumer Protection Act 2019 and Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020; Legal Metrology Act 2009; Competition Act 2002 and CCI investigations on dealer-exclusivity / spare-parts practices; state-level road tax, registration, green-cess norms; FDI policy; FEMA; SEBI (LODR) for listed OEMs / retail groups; EPR for end-of-life vehicles; Scrappage Policy (Vehicle Scrapping Rules 2021).
Compensation Architecture
Luxury OEM Country Heads / MDs: ₹12–30 Cr fixed + STI + LTI; Ultra-Luxury Brand Directors: ₹6–15 Cr + STI; Heads of Sales: ₹5–11 Cr + STI; Heads of Aftersales: ₹4–9 Cr; Heads of Network Development: ₹4–7.5 Cr; Heads of Marketing and Communications: ₹4–9 Cr; Heads of Pre-Owned / CPO: ₹3.5–7 Cr; Heads of EV Strategy: ₹4.5–10 Cr; Luxury-Retail-Group CEOs: ₹6–14 Cr + STI + ESOP.
Roles We Typically Place
Why Gladwin International Leadership Advisors for Luxury Cars
Mandate experience covering MDs, CEOs and Country Heads across German premium-luxury OEM India units, British and Italian ultra-luxury and supercar India arms, Swedish and Japanese luxury-OEM India units
Deep coverage of Heads of Sales, Heads of Aftersales, Heads of Network Development and Heads of Marketing and Communications across luxury-OEM India operations
Executive-search expertise for Heads of Pre-Owned / Certified-Pre-Owned, Heads of EV Strategy and Heads of Charging Infrastructure
Strong track record placing CFOs, Chief Information Officers and Chief Digital Officers for luxury-auto India platforms
Leadership talent for dealer-principal, CEO and COO roles across multi-brand luxury-car retail groups operating across metro and emerging-Tier-1 markets
Confidential succession mandates for ultra-luxury brand-director and clienteling-head roles at British and Italian supercar / hypercar India arms
Board and advisory-director searches for listed luxury-auto retail groups and PE-backed multi-brand luxury-dealer consolidators
Organisations We Serve
German premium-luxury OEM India units across saloon, SUV and performance portfolios
British and Italian ultra-luxury and supercar marques operating India sales-and-service arms
Swedish and Japanese luxury-OEM India units across SUV, sedan and hybrid-EV portfolios
Manufacturer-certified pre-owned luxury platforms scaling residual-value management
Multi-brand luxury-car retail groups consolidating dealer networks across metro and Tier-1 cities
Ultra-luxury and hypercar India sales-and-service arms with concours and track-day programmes
Luxury-EV charging-infrastructure operators and home-installation programme partners
Listed and PE-backed luxury-dealer consolidator platforms
Luxury Cars leaders assessed on the Luxury “ATELIER” framework
Seven dimensions calibrated for luxury leadership — where commercial rigour meets brand custodianship. Dimensions are calibrated for luxury cars mandates where relevant.
Parent Practice
Return to Luxury Goods & Services
Discuss a Luxury Cars Mandate
Confidential · No obligation
Response within 4 business hours · All enquiries handled by a senior practice partner · Strictly confidential