Comments
The love for super-sportscars is now making inroads into India’s smaller cities.
Automobili Lamborghini, the Italy-based maker of the iconic Lamborghini super-sportscars, has found customers in Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Surat and Ahmedabad in the last 18 months.
Kolkata, a metro that hadn’t yet featured majorly in the country’s luxury market, has got five Lamborghini cars in less than two years that cost upwards of ₹3.4 crore.
“Seventy per cent of Lamborghini super-sportscars in India are from the metros. But the recent surge is seen in the smaller markets,” said Pavan Shetty, Head of Operations, India.
At present, there are 106 Lamborghini super-sportscars in the country. While the company sold six of these cars in Gujarat (four in Ahmedabad and two in Surat), two each were bought in Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad in the last 18 months.
The company sold 16 of its super-sportscars in India in 2014, down from 22 in 2013.
“The fall was due to the late arrival of the new model, Huracan LP 610-4, last year,” said Shetty. In 2012, Lamborghini had sold 17 units.
Shetty was talking to BusinessLine on the sidelines of the company’s launch of its latest Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce model in Singapore on Wednesday.
Lamborghini competes with Porsche, Maserati and Ferrari in the super-sportscars segment. The company claims to be the highest-selling in the Indian market. One reason could be the troubled dealership of Ferrari and Maserati and recent reports have said both plan to start afresh this year.
Lamborghini’s new Aventador Superveloce model will be available in India from the second half of this year and has a price tag of ₹5.9 crore ex-showroom. By the time it hits the road, the price would be nearly ₹7 crore. Lighter by 50kg from its earlier model and with a higher horse power, the new Aventador can reach speed of 100 km per hour in 2.8 seconds.
“We plan to open a fourth showroom in the country,” said Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO, Automobili Lamborghini. The company had opened a showroom in Bengaluru last year, its third after showrooms in Mumbai and Delhi.
“There is a limited production of 600 units of Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce. We have already sold 400 of them. So the availability depends on how fast the customers respond,” he added.
Second-hand market Globally, Lamborghini super-sportscars have a big second-hand market, especially for models that are 30-40 year-old. But in India, the hike in customs duties has made the second-hand market even more dynamic.
“Cars sold in 2008 now have a higher value than their original price,” said Shetty. In 2013, the government had hiked custom duty on luxury cars by 25 per cent. The hike had increased the cost of Lamborghini by 30 per cent.
The company’s customers in India are mostly in the age group of 25-40 years old. “The youngest is 22 and the oldest is over 60 year-old,” said Shetty. “Most of them are self-made,” he added.
Globally, the company sold 2,530 units last year—its highest ever. “We have gone against the industry trend and it is because of our expanded dealership. We aim to better the numbers this year,” said Winkelmann.
The writer is in Singapore at the invitation of Automobili Lamborghini.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.