Ultra-luxury carmakers bullish on India

Even though ultra-luxury carmakers like Bentley, Rolls Royce et al are bearish about the American and other developed markets, their sentiments are understood to be quite bullish towards emerging markets like India. Despite the Indian auto industry expected to grow by 7 per cent only in the current fiscal year, sales of super luxury cars is expected to grow by 20 per cent over the next few years. It is widely believed that the burgeoning nouveau riches have been the main factors responsible for brisk sales of such models.

A super luxury car is retailed above Rs. 1.5 crore, including the import duty on CBUs. Since such cars are hand-crafted and not assembled by machines, it takes at least six months to deliver to any customer after the order is placed.



Bentley Motors Limited, an English manufacturer of ultra-luxury automobiles, has launched the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed (a high-speed variant of its existing model, Continental Flying Spur), on 10th October'08, at New Delhi in India. The car is touted to be the world's fastest four-door car. With a product profile consisting of the Bentley Arnage, the Continental GT and now the Flying Spur Speed, Bentley Motors has introduced only top-end saloons in India so far. Priced at Rs. 2.5 crore (ex-showroom Delhi), the car would be imported as a Completely Built Units (CBU). It would be available through Delhi-based Exclusive Motors Private Ltd. The company plans to operate through the exclusive dealership model in India as it operates globally the same way. Bentley is hoping to sell around 10 units of the Flying Spur family in the Indian market. Moreover, this year Bentley achieved its annual target of selling 25 cars in just eight months. Similar has been the situation with Rolls Royce. Bentley grew by 20 per cent last year and expect to clock similar growth in the country this year. Since commencing its operations in India 2003, it has sold over 100 Bentleys in India and some of its customers own between 2-3 Bentleys.

According to a senior representative of Bentley Motors (Middle East, Africa and India), the company has long term plans for the Indian market and will stay focused on our high-end saloon. He added that the company experienced a huge growth in the Indian market over the past year. He also stated that India is a saloon market and the company will continue focus on this segment. He indicated that in order widen its product portfolio in the country; all its future models will be simultaneously launched in India along with the global market. He added that the Indian automaker is allotted quota of 25 cars a year and by August'08, its order book has been full.



Rolls Royce Motor Cars, the manufacturers of super-luxury Phantom, has said that it is banking heavily on the Indian market for pushing up its volumes. On the sidelines of launching its new showroom in Delhi, the company has indicated that it is aiming to notch up 70 cars in the country by 2013, citing the country to be to emerge as the single-biggest market in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years where it is targeting the top end of the personalised car market. It has also been learnt that he BMW subsidiary is rolling out a slew of new models at its facility in Goodwood, England, and plans launch it in India in the next few years. Moreover, its RR4, a smaller luxury saloon than Phantom, will hit the Indian roads by 2010. Besides, a Phantom coupe with different powertrain option is also on the cards. Rolls-Royce's new car RR4, a smaller ultra-luxury saloon than its current Phantom model, will be launched in India in the next two years.

According to a senior representative of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the new family will not compete with Phantom, but it will be the second most expensive in the world. He stated that the company has discerned a huge chunk of ultra-high net worth individuals in India, which make the market very impressive for it. He also added that it is scaling up its production capacity in England from 1,000 units to 3,000 units. A Rolls Royce dealer in Mumbai has claimed that it has already crossed its target of 8-10 units by June'08. The dealer is tipped to be receiving orders for another 10 units by the end of this year.

The number of high networth individuals earning over a million dollar in India is estimated at 50,000. Moreover, the market for super luxury cars in India is ballparked between 20-30 cars annually.