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 — with an average 98 Days time-to-placement and a 12-month candidate guarantee.
26+
Luxury Auto Placements
98 Days
Avg. Time-to-Placement
89%
Offer Acceptance Rate
12 Months
Candidate Guarantee
Specialisation withinLuxury Goods & Services·Crafting the Category of Desire
India's luxury-automotive market — 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, Lotus India — represents one of the world's fastest-growing ultra-luxury-car markets, with Mercedes-Benz alone crossing 18,000 units, BMW / Audi each past 13,000–15,000 units, and ultra-luxury (Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce) 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 — 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, Lotus India — represents one of the world's fastest-growing ultra-luxury-car markets, with Mercedes-Benz alone crossing 18,000 units, BMW / Audi each past 13,000–15,000 units, and ultra-luxury (Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce) 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. Gladwin places 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-automotive OEMs, pre-owned-luxury platforms (Mercedes-Benz Certified, BMW Premium Selection, Audi Approved) and independent luxury-car retail groups (Landmark Cars, Auto Hangar, Navnit Motors, Group Landmark, T&T Motors, Deutsche Motoren).
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 / ultra-luxury clienteling (track days, concours, Bernina / Pebble Beach invites, factory tours) 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 (Mercedes-Benz Certified, BMW Premium Selection, Audi Approved, JLR Select, Porsche Approved) scale and residual-value management
Building luxury-EV charging architecture (ultra-fast chargers, home-installation programmes, Taycan / EQS / i7 / Lucid / Lotus Eletre 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
Placed MDs, CEOs and Country Heads at Mercedes-Benz India, BMW Group India, Audi India, JLR India, Porsche India, Volvo Cars India and Lamborghini / Ferrari / Bentley / Rolls-Royce India arms
Deep coverage of Heads of Sales, Heads of Aftersales, Heads of Network Development and Heads of Marketing and Communications across luxury OEMs
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 at Landmark Cars, Group Landmark, Auto Hangar, Navnit Motors, T&T Motors, Deutsche Motoren and Krishna Auto
Confidential succession mandates for ultra-luxury (Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren) brand-director and clienteling-head roles
Board and advisory-director searches for listed luxury-auto retail groups (Landmark Cars) and PE-backed multi-brand luxury-dealer consolidators
Organisations We Serve
Mercedes-Benz India
BMW Group India (BMW + MINI + BMW Motorrad)
Audi India
Jaguar Land Rover India (Tata)
Volvo Cars India / Porsche India / Lexus India
Lamborghini India / Ferrari India / Bentley India / Rolls-Royce Motor Cars India
Aston Martin / McLaren / Maserati / Lotus India
Landmark Cars, Group Landmark, Auto Hangar, Navnit Motors, T&T Motors, Deutsche Motoren
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
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