Will you spend Rs20 crore on Aston Martin?

Aston Martin announced that they will be entering India which is the one of the fastest growing markets for automobile in the world. The will be launching three new models in this country. Aston Martin, a British luxury sports car manufacturer joins the growing list of Lamborghini, Bugatti, Maseratti and Ferrari who have started selling their products in India to a big section of sports car enthusiasts.

Aston Martin’s chief commercial officer, Michael van der Sande, said that India is a new opportunity for them. This automobile company will be offering V8 Vantage which costs 15.5 million Indian rupees or USD $348,341, One-77 which costs 200 million rupees or $4.5 million and Rapide which costs 21.5 million rupees or $483,146.



Lalit Choudhary from Performance Cars, the official dealership for Aston Martin in Mumbai said that India is a big market and it is growing rapidly. Hence it cannot be ignored. Aston Martin is a very expensive car brand and over their past history of 97 years, they have sold just 5,000 cars to the richest in Asia, United States and Europe. This company is expecting to see one quarter or their cars to the Middle Eastern and Asian countries over the next 5 years.

Donnelly refused to reveal any details about the number of cars they are planning to sell. A second dealership will be opened at New Delhi by May. A lot of automobile makers are looking at Chinese and Indian markets to see their products as their Europe and US opportunities have started to dry up.

Aston Martin was a company found in 1914 and the inclusion of showroom in Mumbai increases the global dealership network to 134 dealers in 42 countries.

Mercedes-Benz to launch new products in 2010

Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz on Monday said it would launch up to seven new models, including some variants of its existing products, this year.

Incidentally, the company is launching the new cars at a time when it is engaged in a tough fight with rival German firm BMW for the top slot in the segment.

“We have a plan to launch a total of 10-12 products this year. Of them, we have already launched five since January and the rest will follow during the course of the year,” Mercedes- Benz Board of Management India Member Suhas Kadlaskar told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the new products will include some variants of its existing E-Class sedans.

“We know the luxury car market is poised for huge growth in the country and we want to bring in the new cars to tap this,” Kadlaskar said.

Since January, Mercedes-Benz has launched five products, including luxury limousine S-Guard, which will come at a price of around Rs 6 crore. It had also launched its limousine S-500 L, the sports utility vehicle GL 350, and the sedans E-250 CDI and E-220 I.

The Stuttgart-headquartered company was dislodged from its long-held position of the numero uno luxury car brand in India in 2009 by its compatriot BMW.

However, according to Society of the Indian Automobile Manufacturers in January this year, Mercedes-Benz sold 403 units in the country, surpassing the figure of BMW’s 341 units.

Audi Q5 May be Assembled in India

This is one among the many plans of Audi, a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen, which has been revealed recently.

The company is planning to locally assemble a model in India. Though the company has not specified the model that will be assembled in the country, it has given us a hint that it will be an SUV. And working on this lead the most popular guess is Audi Q5. If the guess is right, then the Q5 will be the third model from the luxury carmaker that will be assembled in India, Audi A4 and A6, being the other two.

If you are expecting a change in price then you are mistaken, the Q5 will be still priced at Rs 44.94 lakh for its 3.0 TDI Quattro and Rs 38.94 lakh for 2.0 TFSi Quattro. And there is fine explanation for this and that is the company has already launched the model at the CKD or local assembly price and the company does not differentiate between CBU and CKD.

This shift in the location of assembly is a part of the company’s plan to expand its business in the country. Audi till this time of the year has marked a 62 per cent hike in its sales compared to the last year. And this has been a true encouragement for the company in the midst of economic slowdown and it is planning to bring in new models next.

The company has also not revealed the expected date on which it will start assembling its model. With most of the information about the model and other details still shrouded in mystery, nothing stops the car lovers in the country from speculating.