Lamborghini sees 60 per cent sales growth in India this year

Italian super sports car maker Autombili Lamborghini expects sales to grow around 60 per cent this year in India, a country which it sees breaking into its top 15 global markets in the next four to five years, a senior company official said on Thursday.

The company, which sold 45 units in India last year, Thursday launched its new Huracan Evo super sports car priced at Rs 3.73 crore (ex-showroom) in India, the first country where it has commercially launched the vehicle.

Lamborghini India Head Sharad Agarwal said, when the company launched luxury SUV Urus in the beginning of 2018, it was looking at two-fold increase in sales over "our 2016 achievement in next three years, but we could do 2x in the year of the launch itself".

"If we look at our (2018) achievement, keeping 2016 as base, then we should look at achieving three-fold in 2019. It means that, on the base of 2018, we should be growing at a rate of 55-60 per cent," Agarwal told PTI.

The company, which introduced Urus last year, expects the new model to bring in new set of customers in India for Lamborghini.

"Until now, we were saying that we are the leaders in super sports car segment in India; but now in 2018, Lamborghini emerged as the leader in overall super luxury cars segment, priced above Rs 2.5 crore," he added.

The super luxury car segment comprises players such as Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin and top end products from German manufacturers Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

Bullish on the company's new products to add to the sales momentum, Agarwal said, "We aim to further strengthen our position in the country this year... We will become much much bigger in the super luxury segment in India.

"This year, we will have the first full year of the Urus and also Huracan Evo coming in, we will definitely gain volumes in the super sports car segment as well."

Underlining the significance of the Indian market, Automobili Lamborghini CEO APAC region Matteo Ortenzi said India is the first market globally where the company is launching the Huracan Evo, after its unveiling in Bahrain.

"This shows our commitment to the Indian market, which we consider to be a very... important market," he added.

The company sold 45 units in India last year, up from 26 units in 2017.
When asked about how India would grow in terms of Lamborghini's top global markets, Agarwal said, "If you look at the volumes in India at present, they may not be very exciting; but everybody in the headquarter believe that it has to grow and it is growing.

"Currently, we are not in its top 15 markets in the world. It is our ambition that, in the next four to five years, we break in the top 15."
Globally, Lamborghini sold 5,750 units last year, while in the Asia Pacific region it sold 1,301 units, up from 1,000 units in 2017.

Lamborghini's top ten global markets include the US, Japan, the UK, Greater China, Germany, Canada, the Middle East, Australia, France and Monaco, and Italy.

Agarwal said some of the few reasons the company is bullish on the Indian market is the spread of demand, which has gone beyond metros to tier I and II cities, besides a rise in the number of first generation entrepreneurs becoming a major part of its customers.

Moreover, he said, "We are also seeing a rise in the number of women buyers for our products, specially the Urus. Around 5 per cent of our total customers in India is women."

Agarwal said Lamborghini India has started taking orders for the Huracan Evo and the waiting period for deliveries will be around six months.

"It will start reaching the market in May or June," he said.

With the launch of Evo, which is the next level of evolution of the Huracan family, he said, "All the current range in the Huracan family will stop production in the next few months."

The allocation for the Indian market for the number of Huracan Evo is in single digits, he said adding that the company could push for double digits to the headquarter.