Also, a crop of young wealth creators has sprung up thanks to the heightened deal activity in the startup world in India. A report by the Centre of American Entrepreneurship called “Rise of the Global Startup City” says that Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are among the top 20 global cities contributing to the growth of venture capital investment.

Besides the custom of Richie Richs and the ‘old money’ generation, Lamborghini is hoping that these first-generation entrepreneurs give its India ambitions a lift. Agarwal says customers in India have a penchant for limited edition models. One of the 600 limited edition Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce Jota, or SVJ, which made its global debut in 2018 at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, was delivered to a buyer in Bengaluru in January. Lamborghini says that in the last few years, customers from tier 1 and tier 2 cities such as Ludhiana, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Indore, and Madurai have bought Lamborghinis. “This also shows that there is growth across states,” it says.

Agarwal says the main drag for the supercar market in India which comprises brands like Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Porsche is the tax structure. “The inconsistency in the tax structure is what makes us keep going back to the drawing board again and again,” he says. When the goods and services tax was implemented in July 2017, luxury vehicles attracted a base tax of 28% with 15% cess. Later, in September, the cess on large cars was hiked by 5%, taking the total to 48%. Ortenzi says high taxes in India are not letting the market expand.

“While some reduction in taxes could help grow the overall luxury car market in India, a consistent policy is needed to help companies make long-term plans and chart out their strategies,” Ortenzi says. Not to speak of import duties. The new Huracán Evo imported from Italy attracts over 100% import duty. The ex-showroom price of the car is ₹3.73 crore and its on-road price is ₹4.25 crore.

“The super-luxury car market is still evolving in India. It hasn’t grown to its potential as the segment has consistently been hit by increase in duties. The super-luxury segment has had its own challenges with the environment in India—infrastructure issues and traffic conditions,” Agarwal says.

The company maintains that despite these challenges, it has been growing steadily and leading the super luxury segment in India. “We don’t have a challenge here,” he says. “Until now, we were saying that we are the leaders in super sports car segment in India; but now in 2018, Lamborghini emerged as the leader in overall super-luxury cars segment, priced above ₹2.5 crore.”

Despite the tax structure and import duties, there will be demand for hot wheels, says Sridhar. “The super-luxury segment is not about volumes. It’s all about uniqueness. Predominantly these are limited-editions. I don’t see a challenge for them in terms of coming up with their new models. They will always find a minimum level of demand among that category of buyers,” he explains.

Agarwal is excited about the next leg of innovations that the company is going to work on. “When it comes to the future, the application of AI (artificial intelligence) in super sports cars will be used to heighten the experience of driving a Lamborghini...” he says. But Agarwal insists it will be the emotion connected with owning and driving a Lamborghini that will continue to be the X factor for the brand.

“This is why our customers buy a Lamborghini; they wouldn’t want anyone else or even technology for that matter to take over this experience,” he says.

This story was originally published in the April 2019 issue of the magazine.

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