German luxury auto maker Audi is planning to beat rivals BMW and Mercedes to

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acquire the numero uno position in the Indian premium car market in the next five years, tripling its sales in the country by then.

"By 2015, we aim to become number 1 in India. We have told our team in India to work towards that aim. Our efforts, for brand building and developing dealerships for deeper market penetration, are geared towards that," AUDI AG board member Peter Schwarzenbauer told PTI.

Audi stood at number three position in India in 2009 with BMW and Mercedes occupying the first and second ranks respectively in the luxury car segment in the country.

Audi is also targeting sale of about 5,000 units in India by 2015, up from 1,658 units in 2009.

It also plans to significantly increase the number of its dealerships from 12 currently to 18 by next year. The new dealerships are lined up at Jaipur, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Nagpur, Lucknow and Coimbatore.

The company will also start assembling its compact SUV Q5 in India by the middle of this year at the Aurangabad plant of Volkswagen Groups firm Skoda. It at present, assembles its sedans A4 and A6 in the country.

BMW sold 3,619 cars in 2009 while Mercedes sales stood at 3,247 units last year.