WHEELING INDIA

Foreign marques cannot afford to ignore the importance of the Indian luxury car market...

The talk in Indian power circles these days is about the length of the all-important visiting card. Especially when the card is made of metal, loaded with the right gizmos and runs on four wheels. Nowadays stepping out of a premium set of wheels is being considered one of the finest ways to announce your arrival in life. And people are fast realising that snapping one up, straight from the showroom floor is the smartest addition to their glamour wardrobe. Last year, in India according to a study by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, the number of wealthy individuals grew at the second fastest pace in the world in 2006. The country now boasts of 36 billionaires, the highest in any Asian country, worth $191 billion, according to Forbes’ annual list of the world’s wealthiest people. Fourteen Indians were new to Forbes’ list this year. Also, according to industry estimates, last year of the total estimated car sales of 14 lakh, premium cars contributed a miniscule 0.25%. But this year, the figure is expected to go up from 3,500 to 5,000 and, by 2012, sales may touch a whopping 10,000. Sniffing the opportunity, premium carmakers such as, BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Volvo, are busy getting their act together. For instance, BMW this spring opened an assembly plant in southern India to cater specifically to domestic customers. The plant will roll out about 1,700 cars a year priced from Rs 2.67 million ($62,000) to Rs 4.2 million, or at least 12 times the local price of entry-level compact cars. BMW sold 257 cars in India last year but growth expectations are so high that it’s new plant could expand to eventually roll out 10,000 cars a year. Even Volvo aims to be a serious player in India’s luxury car market, which it expects to more than double by 2009. It launched it’s S80 sedan and XC90 sport utility in petrol and diesel variants, at Rs 3.8-5.2 million ($93,137-$127,451), and expects a network of about a dozen dealers by end of next year. In short, foreign marques have finally realised that the premium car market in India is one they cannot afford to ignore. Recently Volkswagen launched their Passat, the Mercedes stable is almost splitting at the seams, and Lamborghini is picking up speed, slowly but surely: the market seems to be slowly blossoming. Therefore it’s hardly a surprise that hard on the heels of Audi’s Q7 launch last September, a slew of top-notch cars and SUVs are lining up for an extended debutantes’ ball, from BMW’s X5 to the legendary Mini. And just to top it up, the party seems to have just begun. A talk with the Stuttgart-based sports carmaker Porsche confirmed the fact they too aren’t yet satisfied with their glam portfolio here. 2009 will see them driving in their sensual Panamera, a four-door luxury sports sedan, which will be priced at around Rs 70 lakh. And not to be left behind in the luxury drag Bentley too is doing the same. With talks of opening another showroom in Mumbai, the niche European carmaker will soon bring in it’s Rs 4 crore Brooklands coupe. India will have two of the 550 cars that Bentley will manufacture globally. If exclusivity is the desire, what better way to satisfy it, eh?