The writing is on the wall for super luxury and sports cars, you would think. These exorbitantly prized fuel guzzlers that cost an arm and a leg in import duties alone may appear quite Jurassic in a world obsessed with sustainability and zero-carbon modes of futuristic mobility.
Think again. Covid and the ensuing K-shaped economic scenario seem to have breathed new life into super luxury car sales in the country. Sales which fell since 2018 have picked up and how. Super luxury brands like Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini etc. that form the super luxury segment, peaked with overall sales of 315 in 2018, and it was falling since then — blame it on the economic slowdown, Covid and what not.
Then something strange happened in 2021 onward as the world opened up after Covid. Sales suddenly spurted to cross 500 last year. And expectations are that sales will go up 20 per cent this year according to internal industry estimates.
In fact, market research firm TechSci thinks it will be higher, at 30 per cent.
Take for example, Lamborghini. The brand launched its latest model, Urus S, in the country Thursday afternoon at an ex-showroom price upwards of 4 crore rupees. But has a waiting period of 18 months across its portfolio.
Others like Ferrari, which launched its 296 GTB last year, as well as the likes of Maserati also have small but steady numbers. Porsche, for example, grew 64 per cent last year, while Bentley reported an increase of 40 per cent.
Is it purely pent-up demand? Sharad Agarwal, head of Lamborghini India doesn’t think so. “It’s a carry-forward demand. A look at the number of high net worth individuals, the economic growth and the progress In infrastructure. (All that means) there has to be natural growth.”
The optimism about solid growth in the coming years also stems from the smaller number of sales in the country. China, with similarly high import duties and taxes for super luxury cars, sold 2.7 lakh cars just in April 2020, when the world was freaking out over Covid. A ‘you only live once’ mentality? Probably not, for sales have since then only climbed steadily, with women also forming a sizeable clientele. It could well be India’s turn next.
