New Delhi:
Italian sports car maker Automobili Lamborghini is in works to launch its first hybrid car for India in 2023 as part of the global strategy towards electrification, said a senior company official.“Whenever a new car is introduced in the global market, we always try to see how soon we can bring it to customers in India. This strategy has been a key pillar for our growth in the country. Globally, Lamborghini will introduce a hybrid car in 2023 and India will also get its first hybrid next year,” Sharad Agarwal, Head, Lamborghini India told ETAuto.
The super luxury carmaker which has plans to bring its fully electric car in 2028 to the global market also said that it will introduce it to India around the same time. Without specifying the exact timeline, Agarwal said, “The electric car from Lamborghini will be launched in India before 2030. We will not wait 2-3 years to bring a car to the market (post its introduction in the global market).”
The company on Thursday launched the Huracan Tecnica model in India with a starting price of INR 4.04 crore (ex-showroom). “Globally, we unveiled the car in April this year and within four months, we are launching it in India.”
Lamborghini recorded its best sales in the domestic market in 2019 when it sold 52 units. However, the record was broken in 2021 when it managed to sell 69 cars. In 2020, the company sold only 37 units. The sales volumes are considered healthy given the fact that the on-road price range of its cars starts at INR 4 crore, and these are fully imported thereby attracting heavy taxes in the country.
Currently, cars that are fully built and imported with petrol engines larger than 3,000 cc or diesel engines over 2,500 cc with a CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of more than USD 40,000 attract 100% import duty in India. Cars that are completely built and imported with petrol engines smaller than 3,000 cc or diesel engines less than 2,500 cc with a CIF value less than USD 40,000, levy a 60% import duty.
The Italian automaker is part of German auto group Volkswagen and sells cars like the Huracan and Aventador in India, along with the Urus SUV launched in 2018. It has a network of three dealerships across the country in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Despite the luxury super car segment being a niche market in the country, about 1/4 th of the company’s sales comes from Tier-2,3 cities. Even though Lamborghini has delivered its first car in Shillong recently, and is getting a good response from states like Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, the company is in no hurry to open a showroom in the East.
“Getting a dealer partner in the region is rather easy but the current size of market in the East is not yet grown to the potential for opening an exclusive Lamborghini dealership. We would want to ensure the long term sustainability of the partner.”
The typical age for a Lamborghini sports car owner in India ranges between 25 to 45 years but with its best selling model Urus, the company has seen the buyers up to the age of 55 years. Currently, its models have a waiting period of about one year in the country.
Talking about the demand in the current year, he said, “We are positive about the growth momentum for this year. However, the segment is not growing to its market potential and the size of the segment does not fully reflect the kind of potential we have in the Indian market.”
According to him, there are four key factors hampering the growth in the country- taxation, currency valuation viz-a-viz euro or dollar, infrastructure development and the general perception of luxury cars in the country. “While the infrastructure is fairly developing, devaluation of currency is a major concern as just due to this, the average price of the segment has almost changed by 50% in the last decade.”
Early this year, the company recorded cumulative sales of 400 units in India since its full business operations in the country in 2007.
Among the global markets, the US remains Lamborghini’s best selling market across the world, with over 2,500 cars sold last year.
When asked if India can reach the volume size of the US market for Lamborghini, Agarwal exclaimed, “Why not! India has a huge potential and can definitely reach that spot but we cannot define by when.”
India is also one among the top 5 in Asia-Pacific regions for the company “but it is not where it should be.”
Other automakers in the super luxury car segment in India include Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lexus, Maserati, Mercedes Benz, BMW.
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The new model’s powertrain delivers 565 Nm of torque at maximum 6,500 rpm and improved acceleration of 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds. Globally unveiled in April 2022, the new model takes the 5.2 l power plant outputting the same 640 CV power as STO.
“What we are always underlining (is) high taxation which is limiting (sales of) our cars, and therefore in the foreseeable future the size of the Indian market will stay small but the growth rate in terms of percentage is high,” Winkelmann said in virtual interaction.
