 "Lamborghini targets India's super-rich to double sales")
Italian super-luxury sports car maker Lamborghini is looking to tap the growing number of high net worth individuals in India to almost double its sales in the country in the coming few years.
The company, which opened its second dealership in India in New Delhi, plans to add a third one in Bangalore for which it is in discussions with a local partner.
“The high net worth individuals, who are our target customers, are fast growing in India… In the coming years, we expect our sales here to be about 30-40 units a year,” Automobili Lamborghini SpA president and CEO Stephen Winkelmann said.
[caption id=“attachment_1129709” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Global luxury carmakers are piling into India, Asia’s third-largest economy, and recent high-profile launches include the Jaguar F-Type, whose price starts at about 14 million rupees.[/caption]
This year, he said, the company is targeting to sell over 20 cars in the country as compared to 17 units last year.
In India, Lamborghini sells two models, the Gallardo and the Aventador, which are priced between Rs 2.8 crore and Rs 6.30 crore (ex-showroom Delhi).
Among the major customers of the company in India are first-generation entrepreneurs aged 30-40 and second-generation businessmen, he added.
“Customers in India are one of the youngest in our global markets, much younger than those in Europe,” he said. Mr. Winkelmann, however, said the infrastructure and taxation in India were major hurdles.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“More Indian nationals buy our cars abroad, especially in Europe… Here in India the traffic, road conditions are not so suitable,” he said.
When asked if the overall slowdown in the auto industry has affected the company’s sales, he replied in the negative and said the company is optimistic of increasing its sales in India.
“We are in the niche super sports car segment. It is disconnected from the general car market. The high-end is not so much impacted,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Winkelmann said Lamborghini is working to expand its presence in India.
“At present, we are in discussion for a third dealership. Bangalore is the city where we intend to open,” he added. Globally, this year the company is looking to sell more than 2,000 units it sold last year, he said without disclosing exact numbers. US and China are the top two markets for the company, followed by the Middle-East, UK and Japan.
Global luxury carmakers are piling into India, Asia’s third-largest economy, and recent high-profile launches include the Jaguar F-Type, whose price starts at about 14 million rupees.
But high import duties, with tax on some luxury cars exceeding 100 percent, as well as potholed and congested roads in major cities are a challenge for luxury car makers like Lamborghini, which expects to sell more than 20 cars in India this year, up from 17 in 2012.
The base model Lamborghini in India starts at $370,000.
Annual sales of luxury cars in India stand at just about 1 percent of the total car market, compared with around 7 percent in China.
Although the Indian economy has slowed over the last year, luxury carmakers see tremendous growth potential in the country, which, according to the Boston Consulting Group, had 164,000 millionaire households in 2012.
“This is an opportunity we see for our future. And we hope that sooner or later, in terms of taxation, in terms of infrastructure, this is going to be easier to market, and then you have the opportunity to grow in numbers,” Winkelmann said.
The luxury car sales in India is expected to rise to 41,339 in 2018 from an estimated 16,524 this year, according to LMC Automotive. China’s luxury vehicles market is expected to rise to 1.5 million in 2018 from an estimated 800,364 this year, it said.
Agencies
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