The supercar industry has lately been booming in India, with carmakers like Porsche and Lamborghini registering record domestic sales over the last couple of years. Buying sentiment has been at an all-time high in the two years since the pandemic, and Lalit Chaudhary, executive chairman at Infinity Cars – retailer of Lamborghinis, McLarens and Rolls-Royces in the country – tells Autocar India that the hardening of the residual value of supercars has been an “an extremely important” factor driving growth in this segment.
Residual value drives growth
Despite the sky-high price tags that supercars come with in India, there’s a thriving appetite for them. With limited-edition allocations selling out like hotcakes and carmakers boasting of waiting periods in years, supercar makers have taken notice of this growing interest in India.
In the larger context, though, supercars are still a rarity, as Chaudhary explains: “India’s wealth and consumption are not proportionate for this segment. We’re probably some ways away from catching up with the rest of the world.”
However, with such exclusivity comes having to stabilise the residual value, something that brands have typically not been able to excel at in markets abroad. And that is one of the key drivers of the segment’s growth.
“Most people buy these cars believing they should be able to trade them at will and upgrade to the next car. So, as participants in the business, it’s our primary job to stand by them when they want to push their car out and purchase something else. It’s our job to ensure that the buyback value holds and to minimise the loss to the first buyer,” Chaudhary asserts.
Early buyers putting their cars up for sale in the pre-owned market then proliferates another crop of buyers in this segment. Given that purchasing supercars new, especially at the price they come at, is out of reach for most, the used-car market also becomes a lucrative platform for aspiring buyers.
Justifying price escalation
With such demand, it’s very much a seller’s market. Take, for instance, the newly launched Lamborghini Revuelto, priced at well above Rs 10 crore (on-road). Its allocations for India are already sold out till 2026. Clearly, discerning buyers aren’t shying away from the escalating prices, which Chaudhary believes comes with good reason.
“Price increases have happened with currency and cost of production going the other way, but they are justifiably slow. Covid-19 and its related supply chain constraints also contributed. So net-net, it’s with good reason, similar to how prices have increased for most product categories. But when there’s value at that price, consumers make the purchase,” Chaudhary says.
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