Italian super sports carmaker Automobili Lamborghini is aiming to close its best year ever, after nine months of record numbers and a steady growth trend, including the farewell to the ‘pure’ V12 combustion engine in view of the hybridising of the entire range by 2024. Deliveries from January to September 2022 reached 7,430 units (8% growth over the same period in 2021), with the target markets now confirmed to be the US (8% growth), Greater China (5%), Germany (16%), the UK (20%) and Japan (26%).
India market
Sharad Agarwal, head of Lamborghini India, told FE that while the numbers may be small in India, the country is the fastest growing market globally for the super sports carmaker. “In calendar year 2021, we sold 69 cars, at a growth rate of 86% over the Covid-19-impacted 2020,” he said. “We are trying to bring global models to India as fast as possible. For example, when the Urus SUV was launched globally, India was one of the world’s top five markets to get the car. For the Huracan Evo, India was the first market that got the car after the global launch.”
Lamborghini India had sold 37 cars in 2020, 52 cars in 2019 and 45 cars in 2018. Its cars—the Urus, the Huracan and the Aventador, with their numerous variants—are priced upwards of Rs 4 crore, and with customisation that most buyers opt for, prices can reach Rs 7-8 crore.
This week, Lamborghini India launched the Urus Performante, priced Rs 4.22 crore (ex-showroom). A more advanced variant of the Urus, the Urus Performante is lower (like a sports car), wider and lighter by 47 kg, with more power. It can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 3.3 seconds and has a top speed of 306 km/h. The Urus Performante in India comes within months of its global premiere that happened this August.
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The Urus
It’s the largest selling Lamborghini car in India, and recently the carmaker delivered the 200th Urus in the country. “The Urus accounts for nearly 50% of all Lamborghini cars ever sold in India,” Agarwal said. “It has also helped us reach tier-2 cities, and around 25% of our sales now come from beyond metro cities.”
The carmaker has dealerships in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Viewpoint from the HQ
Earlier this year, Stephan Winkelmann, the chairman & CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, had told FE that India is a tiny market in terms of size, but in terms of percentage growth it is performing very well. “India has high taxation on imported cars, and that is limiting the number of cars sold,” Winkelmann had said. “In the near future, the market size will remain small relative to other countries, but growth numbers will remain good.”
Currently, India imposes 100% duty on fully imported cars with CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value more than $40,000, and 60% on those costing less than the amount. Local registration charges are added onto that value.
China, on the other hand, levies 15% import duties on cars, down from 25% it used to levy until June 30, 2018.
That makes Lamborghini cars in India doubly as expensive as compared to most global markets.
Future plans
Last year, Lamborghini had announced the ‘Direzione Cor Tauri’ plan, under which during 2021-22 it will focus on the development of internal combustion engines for models that pay tribute to the brand’s history. In 2023, the first hybrid model will be launched and the entire range will be electrified by the end of 2024. The first full electric Lamborghini will be launched in the second half of the decade.
“We will go electric first with daily-use cars like the Urus, and super sports cars like the Aventador and the Huracan will continue to be powered by petrol for as long as possible, and then hybrid and eventually electric,” Winkelmann said.