It is barely seven months since Matteo Ortenzi took over as CEO of Asia Pacific for Automobili Lamborghini.

By his own admission, it is a different kettle of fish compared to working at the headquarters in Bologna, Italy. Now based out of Singapore and responsible for countries in the APAC region, he finds the experience interesting. “I am now closer to customers and dealers, which gives me a lot more perspective,” he told BusinessLine during a recent visit to India.

Ortenzi is clearly fascinated by Asia and its complexity. As for India, he says it is by itself not a single market but made of different parts. It is an observation that is common to many expats who believe the country’s diversity translates into huge opportunities.

Likewise, each country/continent within APAC presents its own challenges to Lamborghini, which finished 2017 with sales of over 3,800 units. Going by the recent pace of growth, surpassing 4,000 units this calendar may just be par for the course.

Ortenzi, however, does not dwell on this subject and would rather focus on the markets he is in charge of. “The challenge is to approach things differently for each market and touch base with customers,” he says.

It is also his belief that the latest offering, Urus, is a potential game-changer for the company. “Big change can always be a problem but the acceptance of Urus in the market tells me we are doing the right thing,” says Ortenzi.

The SUV segment is important and growing quickly with people gravitating towards it in a big way. Yet, he is quick to clarify that the Urus goes beyond this classification.

“We are not doing an SUV but a sports car with the shape of an SUV and the task was clear to our engineers that we would provide the emotion to our customers. It has been good and the feedback has been very positive,” reiterates Ortenzi. The challenge going forward is to make things work and “provide the car in the proper way” to customers. “Now is the moment to make the results happen. We are aware that we are still the best in the sports car category,” he says.

The coming years will see Lamborghini strive to double volumes and this is where Urus will be the key growth driver. For now, the company’s biggest market is the US, followed by Japan, the UK, Germany and China. Ortenzi is bullish about India, which has “good potential in the mid-term, rather than short term”.

After all, there are issues relating to road conditions and traffic which makes it a challenge for sports cars. Yet, the market is growing and there is infrastructure development happening along with a growing customer base.

Sharad Agarwal, Head, Lamborghini India, agrees with this view. According to him, India is evolving and people no longer feel guilty or squeamish about spending on luxury brands.

“Our customers are more sophisticated, they travel around the world and have two or three homes. Their children study overseas and a lot of their business is out of India. They want to enjoy life and believe it is not a bad thing especially when they have worked hard,” explains Agarwal.

Today, Bengaluru is emerging as the largest market for Lamborghini, ahead of traditional favourites like Delhi. One would not have thought that the south would race ahead and the fact that this is happening shows a distant behavioural shift towards luxury.

Ortenzi chips in to add that Lamborghini customers are no longer linked to one market but a mix of worldwide brands. “Indians are similar to Americans or Japanese in terms of aspiration and desire. We are seeing the change happening and this will soon be the rule rather than the exception with the young customer,” he says.

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