PIC : POTDAR DESIGN

MUMBAI :

Sharad Agarwal, Head, Lamborghini India, on the complexities of the Indian market, on how Lamborghini India has managed to do well despite a slowdown in the auto industry, their recently launched models, what Indians prefer as well as what the future models at Lamborghini are going to be about.

TOS: They say Lamborghini is an emotion. Please elaborate…

SA: If you look at the brand and the way the customer has aspirations towards the brand, [Lamborghini] is never a car that they buy for commuting purposes. They’re not buying a Lamborghini to drive from point A to point B. They’re buying because they’ve always had some aspirations towards the brand, they look at it as a lifestyle product and they want to enjoy the emotions they experience when they drive a Lamborghini. When you sit inside a Lamborghini, when you switch on the engine, you feel the sound, you feel the vibration and that is what excites our customers. So, it is all about the driving dynamics of the car and also about the emotions experienced when they experience a Lamborghini. These emotions are so individual. 

TOS: Tell us a little bit about the Indian car market… which it is often said, “can be very complex”… does Lamborghini feel so too, and if yes, what is Lamborghini doing to keep things uncomplicated?

SA: I think that’s right when outsiders look at Indian markets. When they look at India, a lot of them make the mistake of looking at us as one single country and in reality, we are not one single country. In fact, if you look at the diversity and complexity of our market, it is much more diverse than a market like Europe. We have 29 states and each one of them has a different character, we differentiate ourselves in terms of cultural differences, languages, the lifestyle, the preferences and it changes as you move from one state to the other. And that’s what becomes very complex for anyone to come and understand this market and customers because you cannot go the Indian market with “one size fits all approach.” You cannot say that what works in Bangalore or Chennai is going to work in Delhi [and] Kolkata and that I should get the same response with the same approach in Ahmedabad. It is not the same because the consumers are very different in terms of their cultural background, in terms of their belief system, their value system, how they want to project themselves, how they value various things in their life, so it is different though there are a lot of commonalities also which exist. But yes, we have to appreciate there are a lot of diversities that exist and this makes India one of the most complex markets for anybody to come and establish business and do it here. I think Lamborghini understood this quite early and that is the sole reason that in 2012 we took the decision that we need to set up a local subsidiary. So, [in] 2012 we created the setup and structure in India. We have a team which is dedicated for this market because they realized that if you have to be successful in this market you need to know the consumer well, you need to build your capabilities to understand their cultural differences, their diversities, their experiences and then present to them the right solution and give them the right experience of the brand which is at par with international standards and I think this is also one thing which is also differentiating us in the marketplace because if I just look at the numbers we see that the super luxury segment has gone through various ups and downs in the past decade but Lamborghini as a brand has consistently grown. We were leading the supersports segment in India and today, we lead the super luxury segment in India. The kind of position that we enjoy in the super luxury space is unprecedented. I think it is one of the strongest if I have to look at the markets across the world. And I think one of the key reasons why this has happened to us is because we took that call to have a team which is based in India so that we can bring the right solutions and the right approach to the market. Plus, when we look at the super luxury market, the complexity increases or intensifies further because we are selling a very small volume but this is spread across the length and breadth of the country, so how do you manage your customers, how do you manage your aftersales expectations, how do you still give them the assurance that if you’re investing in a brand like Lamborghini and being a part of it we will still give you the same experience that we give to every customer across the world. This is a big question that keeps coming to their mind and I think we have been able to answer this question very well for our customers and that is why they have strong faith and trust in the brand.  

TOS: What are the Indian customers leaning towards, especially considering your SUV, Urus, has been such a runaway success?

SA: Urus is not Lamborghini’s first SUV. We did LM002 way back in the 80s. That was the first super SUV that we presented but yes, now, it is after a long gap, [and] since then, the market has also changed a lot. I think the success of Urus is being driven by the fact that we were looking at the market and trying to understand what the customers are looking at. Yes, we see definitely that world over the demand is moving towards SUV and it is becoming the most preferred body style. The SUVs used to be about 10-11% of the business a decade ago and today they’re already touching close to 20% and it is being projected that this will become 1/3 of the market, so, there is a preference which is shifting towards that. But we never wanted to do an SUV because our DNA is supersports car. We wanted to create something which is supersports and keep our DNA alive we [wanted to] create a product which is as versatile as an SUV. So, that was the challenge that we had when we were conceptualizing Urus and because we could create something so unique… that’s what customers appreciated. Because when you drive an Urus you can get the same feeling…. the driving dynamics and the emotions what you get when you drive a Lamborghini. If you look at the design lines of the car, they also speak about the design language of what Lamborghini stands for and this could bring a lot of people, especially in markets like India who always had an aspiration to own and experience a Lamborghini but were stopping themselves from coming into the brand because they always had various questions such as where is the infrastructure in the country to enjoy a Lamborghini or we have too much of traffic and congestion or it is a two-seater car, if I have more options I can enjoy it much more, drive it much more – also comes from the value mindset which we have – so, I think, this made Urus the right proposition for the market and when we unveiled the car and brought it to the market, I think all the people who always had a dream that one day they will have a Lamborghini, this is the right solution for them. We still are on a waiting period of 8 months. This shows that the car is still very strong in terms of its demand. We hope that this trend continues because the product is very unique.

TOS: Lamborghini buyers come from different cities in India and they have different preferences. Lamborghini, prides itself on the whole personalization aspect. Could you throw some light on what buyers are demanding on their cars vis-à-vis their lifestyles and how Lamborghini is pampering them?

SA: People do not buy a Lamborghini; people buy their own Lamborghini. They like to personalize their car as per their lifestyles, as per their preferences, and they spend a lot of quality time in terms of designing their own Lamborghini. A customer in a Tier II city can design or customize his Lamborghini which is as exotic or probably more exotic than a guy who is planning to do the same in Delhi or Mumbai. It is very personal in terms of the customization these are all global citizens for us.  A lot of them have businesses in India and abroad, some of them have studied abroad or their next generation is studying there and they have some influence on the customization so, this happens irrespective of whether you’re in Mumbai or in Tier I or Tier II cities. We don’t see this differentiation based on the geography; we see this differentiation only based on the personality of the buyer. How he is looking at his Lamborghini and what they want to make.

In terms of configuration of their cars, we have different web tools available. So, now, sitting anywhere in the world, you can configure your Lamborghini on your phone and when you do that configuration, you save that configuration, generate a unique code, which you can use across the world. You can go to any place, any dealership, give that code to us and we will start from where you finished. 

TOS: What is the profile of the person who buys a Lamborghini? Are they young people, are they older people?

SA: It is a mix of both. [The Lamborghini] is definitely not their first car because before you move yourself up to a car that is costing 3.5-4 Cr, you have definitely bought quite a few cars in your life before and yes, you’re using some of those cars already. Some of them can be priced equivalent to that. In some cases, yes, it is the first supersorts car they buy and for some cases it may not even be the first supersports car which they buy. They may be driving some other brand of a supersports car. Some of them maybe driving a performance car which is priced at a much lower price point but then yes, the car has been designed with a higher performance. So, some of them maybe using that kind of a product and now looking at upgrading to a Lamborghini so yes, there are both sets of customers. Some customers [have come] first time to the brand and they are supersports buyers, then there are some customers who are repeat buyers. So, they buy a Huracan or they had a Gallardo or Murcielago and now when we launched the new generation Huracan, they want to upgrade to Huracan or they want to buy an Aventador  or they may have an Aventador and when we launched an Aventador SVJ, they want to upgrade to Aventador SVJ, this also happens within supersports. Now, when we say Super SUV, which is Urus… this is a new body type which we introduced and this is bringing us more than 70% customers who are [coming] first time to our family. This is really expanding the customer base for us and it is actually making us reach [out] to a new segment of people and this is also creating a very unique niche in the super-luxury space because nothing like this which was existing before in the market. So, if you look at Urus, the percentage is much higher when it comes to first time Lamborghini buyers. With supersports, the percentage is about 40:60. 40% of the people still upgrade within the supersports community, 60% of the people are coming for the first time to Lamborghini. They are upgrading from other performance cars to Lamborghini because at the end of the day, they always had their journey planned – at some point I will actually get into a Lamborghini. 

TOS: What are you doing in terms of after-sales service…how are you making it available to your customers in cities where you do not have a presence?

SA: We have three workshops in India, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. We have a team that is trained and qualified to handle any kind of aftersales requirement from our customers. We have some very interesting concepts to manage the expectations across the length and breadth [of the country]. While we have three centers, our customers are not only in these centers. You can find a Lamborghini in North-East, the extreme South, the extreme North and extreme West. So, what we do is we hold an annual program, we call it a ‘Service Clinic.’ We also invite our technicians from Italy despite having a complete capability here. We visit each and every Lamborghini sold and check them proactively. We do a health check-up of these cars and we give them a health certificate. Then, we have another concept called ‘Flying Doctors.’ What this means is that you may be sitting in Kolkata and unfortunately, despite all these preventive measures, there is some issue with your car, so our team can reach you through the fastest mode of transportation, if you have some challenge, we will be there to take care of your car. This is what gives customers confidence in terms of aftersales. 

TOS: Your Huracan EVO Spyder was just launched… stunning design! How has that been received?

SA: It’s been a very good launch for us, the excitement is really high. Yes, whatever allocations we got for 2019, we sold out when we launched the car and now, we have to find allocations for 2020, so, we’re just closing on that…how much we can get from our Headquarters which we can pull into our Indian market. I think it is a very lifestyle product, that’s what Spyder stands for. What is still exciting for us, is….see the environment in India does not support the Spyder concept much but what we have seen is that there are a set of people who still have aspirations to have a Spyder, they want to enjoy the open top exhilaration in the car and it is for them… this set of people are slowly and gradually growing. So, in Spyder while we do not anticipate huge volumes coming in, but yes, it definitely contributes to about 25-30% of our Huracan volumes. So, to that extent, it is a very important product for us.

TOS: Which cities have got more Spyders?

SA: I think the demand is across. Right now, the demand is equally spread but yes, overall what we see gradually is the southern markets are today becoming bigger and stronger and are contributing more to our business whether it is sports car or Urus and I think this is also driven by the fact the way the economy is doing in these states. It is also a reflection of that.

TOS: Tell us about the most exciting things happening at Lamborghini in terms of both, design and technology, and are really looking forward to on the future cars.

SA: In terms of design we are very clear. There is a design language that a Lambo has and our designers have all the flexibility in terms of a concept of creating a design of a car as long as it meets the design lines of the car, the silhouette of a Lamborghini and the design language what we have created. So, we are constantly looking at what is the future looking like and what people expect when they are looking at a supersports car. if you look at some of our recent concepts and also some limited edition cars that we have unveiled for the market, like we recently unveiled SIAN at the Frankfurt Motor Show and while this is a limited edition 63 cars that we are making, coupe, this also speaks about the future design language of a Lamborghini and that was very exciting to the customers when they first looked at the car. Plus, we also unveiled our future concept of Electric which also speaks of the future design. We also unveiled another concept Vision 12 Lambo… this also talks about the future design language. Now, these are concept cars, this is a designer’s imagination of a future Lamborghini. Our designers working there look at what and how the design should evolve in the future. You will see some cues from these designs coming to the future production cars. That is how the future is shaped. As a brand, one of the core values for us is as future shapers so we have to constantly keep on looking at how we are shaping the design into the future but also keeping in mind the design language, the heritage, the values and the DNA of the Lamborghini alive in the design because that cannot be compromised. 

On the other side, how are the technologies are shaping up…. yes, there is a lot of discussion going on [both] on electric and on hybrid but what we see today is that electric is still far because the technology has still to evolve to deliver the same driving dynamics and emotions what a customer expects when he sits in a Lamborghini and while we presented a concept, but, if we see in the future that this technology is evolving at that level, we will look at it. But I think it is still far from coming to a production car. What we see definitely coming though is the hybridization and we recently presented our hybrid, SIAN, which is also using super capacitors to power the car, a very unique and a different way to actually give more power to the car, keeping the weight light… and when we introduce our next gen Aventadors or Huracans we will see that this technology is coming to the car – hybrid- in some form. May not be in the form we introduced in SIAN but yes that is where the future will move first.

TOS: So, you’re saying that Hybrids will be the first choice before moving on to Electric?

SA: Yes, with Hybrid you can still improve the CO2 without compromising on the driving dynamics and the emotions what we have to give to our customers but with electric, we still don’t see that happening. The technology has still not evolved. While you can do a straight line on a car, it also has to give you the driving dynamics when you’re driving it on the track. It has to be able to transfer power and torque in that ratio that is required plus it also has to give you that emotional experience when you drive a Lamborghini. So, I think the technology is not yet ready for that experience and that’s why we don’t see it coming very soon to us.

TOS: So, for right now, it is going to be the naturally aspirated engines?

SA: Yes, in fact the next generation cars also, when we do hybrid will be naturally aspirated. 

TOS: What is the most popular colour that Lamborghini sells in India?

SA: I think we rarely sell a white. Lambo is all about colours and our customers really like to experiment with colours. It is very difficult to tell you one single colour which is a favourite but I think if I have to say, it is yellow, orange and green which are among the top three favourites among our customers. [However] you can imagine and we will paint the colour.

TOS: What can we look forward to from Lamborghini in 2020?

SA: 2019 is a good year for us despite a lot of challenges in the market so while we see that the industry is negatively growing but we are projecting a very strong healthy growth over last year for this year and I think a  lot of this was demand was driven by Urus because we had the car available for the entire year. Last year we started delivering in September so this year we had the entire year to deliver the cars so, I think that was also driving the growth. We recently delivered the 50th Urus in India. Our next goal is to get 75 and 100 so that’s what we are looking at. Now, next year for us we [will] look at how we continue to sustain our volumes. Also, we have a challenge in terms of the allocations on Urus because as a brand we want to remain exclusive so the discussions are going on right now as to how many additional cars we can get on top of this years allocation because the demand for Urus remains very strong worldwide. The car is on waiting period in almost all the markets across the world. 

As a company we do appreciate and realize that yes, India, is one of the strategic markets for Lamborghini for future growth and volumes and that’s the reason we are seeing that the brand is constantly investing in India. We are trying to create more and more excitement in the market and we are trying to bring cars much faster than many other markets, we get a lot of preference in that also.