India luxury car boom a phantom

India Dispatch: Across the showrooms the chill wind of a slowdown is blowing. Car makers had hoped for a sales explosion but a spluttering economy, the weak rupee and tax rise mean even the super-rich baulk at the price.

An Aston Martin Rapide in the company's showroom in Mumbai. Reuters

At the Rolls-Royce showroom in Mumbai, located in one of the city's most upmarket malls, business is not as brisk as Ashok Gholap had anticipated.

The sales manager had hoped to sell more than 70 of the gleaming cars, including the famous Phantom and Ghost models, this year.

Increased import duty charges and concerns surrounding India's economy, however, mean the Mumbai showroom is likely to have sales that are flat on last year at about 45 vehicles.

"Sales have been a little slower since March when the taxes went up," says Mr Gholap.

"Also, the sentiment to buy is not there. The super-rich always have money but even their businesses have taken a bit of a beating."

The story is worse at some other luxury car showrooms in India.

"This segment has been majorly affected," says Atuf Shaikh, a sales consultant at the Porsche showroom in Mumbai.

"Sales have dropped ... drastically. Typically from the Mumbai location, it was close to a 10 to 15 car market every month. It has crashed down to a five-car market."

Weakness in the rupee is also having an effect on prices, Mr Shaikh adds.

Cars selling at about 8 million rupees (Dh527,176) in India before the import duty rise have increased to well over 10m rupees since, Mr Shaikh says. At that point, even the super-wealthy in India baulk at the price tag.

"It's not that they can't afford it," he says.

"They can. It's psychological. It will take some time for that to sink in. The market is very much there. There are potential buyers but they've all held their horses. It's a temporary hit."

Consumers were already paying much higher prices for luxury cars than they would pay in Europe and other places, including in the UAE.

Cars are imported in their fully-built form to order in India, which is effectively the only way customers can purchase a new car such as a Ferrari or Porsche. Duties paid on these cars are extremely high.

In March, the basic customs duty on fully-built cars coming into India with a value of more than US$40,000 (Dh146,924) increased to 75 per cent from 60 per cent. Additional taxes and charges mean the total import costs run far higher, to up to 140 per cent of the car's value compared with 110 per cent previously, dealers say.

A Rolls-Royce Ghost sells for about $800,000 in India compared with about $300,000 elsewhere, while a Phantom costs up to $2 million in India, Mr Gholap says.

A Porsche 911 Turbo S, meanwhile, starts from 25m rupees. Even a Boxster, Porsche's cheapest sports cars - costs about 6m rupees, according to Mr Shaikh. That is about twice the price for the same model in Dubai.

Still, everyone remains optimistic about the longer-term potential for the luxury car market in India. The high-end sector has enjoyed substantial growth over the past few years, despite the popularity of cheap economical cars and motorcycles that compete for space on India's chaotic roads.

Mr Gholap says as Rolls-Royce is opening up more dealerships in the country, it is likely the car maker can still increase its sales in India overall this year.

Similarly, Porsche has been expanding across the country, opening up a new showroom in Bangalore last December.

Aston Martin launched its first dealership in India only last year to capitalise on a growing taste for luxury sports cars in India.

Lalit Choudhary, the director of Performance Cars, the official importer of Aston Martin in India, points out the high-end sports car sector is still relatively new in India and he believes the medium to long-term potential is substantial.

"Obviously, the limiting factors are the current prevailing economic environment and the state of the roads," Mr Choudhary says.

He says the price of an Aston Martin in India is about two and a half times that in the UK.

He points out it is still early days for Aston Martin in India but the higher import duty could have an effect as it expands in the country.

"At some stage once volume picks up and once you start going deeper into society trying to sell these products, then you're up against a steeper price that may work against you," he says.

"But at this moment, while the price increase has happened, there are ample people around who will still go out and buy the car because it is something they would like to own."

"Luxury car companies are investing a lot in expanding their distribution network. Historically they were very confined to the larger cities in India," says Ajay Srinivasan, the director of industry research for the car sector at Crisil.

"Today they are going to the smaller cities in India. If you look at the second generation of entrepreneurs and businessmen, many of them are extensively travelled and they know what the best-in-class abroad is.

"They aspire to own those kinds of vehicle," he says.

"If you look at the overall luxury car market, it is about 3 to 4 per cent of the car market in India," Mr Srinivasan says, adding the definition of "luxury" in the Indian market would include cars such as BMW, Mercedes, as well as the Chevrolet Cruze, Toyota Corolla and the ultra-luxury cars such as Rolls-Royce.

He says about five years ago that figure would have been about 1 per cent.

"If you look at growth rates, this year we have seen slower growth rates because of the slower economic growth we're facing and people are not so confident," he adds.

"This market was growing at 20 per cent plus per year. It's growing at about 5 to 6 per cent for 2011 to 2012."

Ashish Chordia heads the Shreyans Group, which is the official importer for Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche.

The company sold 136 Porsches in 2010 and 312 last year, he says.

Then it started selling Ferraris in May of last year and had 20 confirmed orders for the period from June to December of the same year.

"Clients may defer purchase by a couple of months but there have not been any cancellations," Mr Chordia says.

"This is primarily due to the fact that these purchases are aspirational purchases.

"Clients have aspired to a Ferrari or a Maserati for years and now, when these brands are available in India, a temporary slowdown does not lead to a cancellation."