Young, rich Indians rev up Lamborghini and Mercedes-Maybach sales
Lamborghini and Mercedes-Maybach plan to expand in India as a growing tribe of young, rich Indians splurge on super luxury cars, driving their sales to record levels.
Italian supercar maker Lamborghini, fresh from a year of record sales, is exploring a fourth showroom in India, while Mercedes-Maybach sees the country as a potential top-five market by sales, company executives said.
"India, for us, is an asset ... there is a huge potential for the future. There is the idea of having maybe a fourth dealership but this is still something in the early stages," Lamborghini's Stephan Winkelmann told reporters at a virtual roundtable.
The optimism is driven by "a change in generation" in the country with "momentum from younger customers", he said, adding that the average age of a Lamborghini buyer in India is below 40 years - making it the youngest market after China.
"You have a lot of startups in India which are very successful. You have very young, high net worth individuals which are stepping into this type of car. So this is positive for us," he said.
Rapid economic growth in India has wrought a fundamental shift in attitude towards luxury purchases among its younger generations that differs from their elders, who were more concerned with saving.
Executives at startups cashing out after record public listings and younger generations of a family business spending with less guilt are driving up sales of all things luxury - cars, watches, bags and even homes.
But luxury car sales in India make up just over 1% of the 4 million vehicles-a-year market, and super luxury cars are an even smaller percentage.
Lamborghini had its best year in India in 2024, selling 113 cars, up 10% on 2023. Winkelmann expects growth again this year, on the back of a strong order book lasting 18 months.
Its Urus SUV, which has a starting price tag of close to $500,000 before taxes, made up half its sales, with the rest coming from the Huracan and Revuelto sports cars.
Mercedes-Maybach achieved 145% growth in India in 2024, selling 500 of its super luxury cars priced upwards of $325,000 in a market where the average car costs about $15,000.
Daniel Lescow, head of Mercedes-Maybach, said India was already in its top 10 markets and had the potential to be in the top five, but the speed of growth would depend on how the luxury market develops.
"I'm convinced there's so much more potential ... so many opportunities here," Lescow told Reuters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dubai Eye
19 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Man City sign Dutch midfielder Reijnders ahead of Club World Cup
Manchester City confirmed the signing of midfielder Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan on a five-year contract on Wednesday and said the Netherlands international will be available for this month's Club World Cup. Financial details were not released but a City team source has put the transfer fee at 55 million euros ($62.85 million). "City are one of the biggest teams in the world, with the best coach, world-class players and outstanding facilities. Under Pep Guardiola, City have won so many titles, and I want to help keep that going with a lot more success in the coming years," Reijnders said in a statement. "It is also a dream come true to play in the Premier League. This league has seen many of the best Dutch players perform through the years and it's an inspiration to follow in their footsteps. " The 26-year-old, who has been capped 23 times, joined Milan in 2023 on a five-year contract before extending it until 2030 in March. He made 104 appearances for the club in all competitions, winning the Italian Super Cup and was named Serie A's best midfielder last season. "He arrives here with extensive top-level experience in Europe both at club level as well as on the international stage with the Netherlands," City's Director of Football Hugo Viana said. Reijnders is City's fourth addition of the transfer window after left back Rayan Ait-Nouri, winger Rayan Cherki and goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli. The expanded 32-team Club World Cup runs from June 14 to July 13 in the United States with $1 billion in prize money at stake.
Campaign ME
20 hours ago
- Campaign ME
Indian cricketer KL Rahul shoots brand collab with Paul & Shark in Dubai
Italian luxury clothing brand Paul & Shark has appointed Indian cricketer KL Rahul as its first global brand ambassador from India, revealed through a digital and social media campaign produced in Dubai. The first chapter of this exclusive collaboration between Paul & Shark and KL Rahul was shot in the heart of the UAE to 'capture a vibrant, modern, and luxurious city, perfectly aligned with the essence of the partnership,' the brand revealed in a statement. Jashanmal Group is the franchise partner for Paul & Shark in the UAE and Kuwait. The campaign featuring KL Rahul is live across Paul & Shark's global platforms and KL Rahul's Instagram, with a special focus on India — a key market in the brand's international distribution network. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KL Rahul👑 (@klrahul) The natural element of water, always central to Paul & Shark's storytelling, frames the imagery and guides the entire narrative, a story deeply connected to the outdoors. Commenting on his role as the brand ambassador, KL Rahul said, 'Paul & Shark just gets my style. The brand is effortless, sharp, and never trying too hard. It stands for quality and quiet confidence, which is exactly how I see fashion too. Being the first Indian to represent them globally makes it even more special, it feels like the kind of partnership that just fits.' As the first-ever Indian athlete to be named a global ambassador for Paul & Shark, KL Rahul will embody the brand's evolving vision of luxury, adventure and modern style. This announcement, in partnership with RBL, marks a milestone moment, highlighting the strategic importance of the Indian market for Paul & Shark—a country with which the brand shares a longstanding relationship in both business and communication. The brand also recently celebrated 15 years in India, with presence across key cities. Paul & Shark CEO Andrea Dini said, 'Paul & Shark has always stood for authenticity, adventure, and luxury. KL Rahul's journey as an athlete, his international appeal, and his distinct sense of style makes him a natural extension of our brand's values. This partnership is not just about fashion — it's about celebrating a way of life that merges sport, travel, and contemporary elegance.' As a family-managed, generational business, the brand remains grounded in heritage while embracing the present and looking to the future, with a strong commitment to responsible practices and sustainability at its core. The partnership launches with Rahul as the face of Paul & Shark's Spring/Summer 2025 collection, celebrating the brand's DNA — a love for the sea, a union of technical innovation and craftsmanship, and a balance between heritage and modernity. The SS25 collection aims to blend elegance and performance in a perfect narrative, with craftsmanship as the protagonist, alongside the brand's iconic pairing of luxurious materials combined with new technologies. Silk, linen, and cashmere are combined with high-performance treatments such as the renowned Typhoon membrane. In every piece of the SS25 collection, the brand attempts to merge quality with functionality in a balance of aesthetics and practicality.
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Gulf Today
Tariffs could be the spur Europe's single market needs
Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters To bring electronic scrap and other waste from across the European Union to its Belgian recycling plant, materials group Umicore can spend at least a month tackling a complex array of national shipment rules. The problem is not just Umicore's as businesses across Europe grapple with internal obstacles that can be as damaging as tariffs. Analysts, however, say US President Donald Trump's tariffs have provided the necessary push to make the bloc the single market it aspires to be. Umicore's difficulties are particularly significant in that the company recycles 17 of the 34 minerals identified by the EU as critical for its green and digital transition. Chief Executive Bart Sap says a shipment may need to go by rail in one country, then transfer to a boat in another with a wealth of diverse documentation along the route. "With that ununified waste market, the internal hurdles are so high that actually 73% of waste is being exported," he told Reuters in an interview. Diverging waste shipment regulation is one of the many internal barriers that add cost and complexity to doing business within the EU. The International Monetary Fund has estimated EU internal barriers are the equivalent of tariffs of 44% for goods and 110% for services, well above the US tariffs of 25% on steel and cars and 10% on many other goods. A similar study in 2021 concluded barriers for goods flow within the United States amounted to a 13% tariff. For goods, EU barriers include restrictions on retailers' ability to source products or sell them in other EU countries and a jumble of rules on labelling. AkzoNobel, Europe's largest paint maker, complains it cannot just sell the same tub across the 27-nation bloc, placing the blame not on different languages but varying rules. These include separate recycling logos in France and Spain and some EU countries requiring air quality information. The Dutch company says it cannot fit all the necessary information on smaller tubs, and that frequent rule changes force it to keep investing on packaging updates. QR codes could be a solution, it says, something the European Union will start requiring from 2027. For services, the single market is even less developed. Laws on setting up foreign subsidiaries diverge, declarations for posting workers abroad vary and 5,700 professions are regulated across the bloc, meaning doctors, nurses, engineers or accountants in one EU country cannot easily work in another. The barriers do not just add cost and complexity. They stifle growth. Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who produced an influential report on the EU single market last year, said EU companies suffered a "stunning size deficit" relative to rivals and that market divisions prevented them building scale. A core problem is vested interest in sectors protecting regulated professions from competition, and as national supervisors prove resistant to an EU-wide capital market that could rival US investments in newer companies and infrastructure. "These are low-hanging fruit economically, because basically they're free. It's essentially changing regulation. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily politically easy," said Niclas Poitiers, research fellow at think tank Bruegel. Debate on a unified capital market has dragged on for more than a decade as EU members have squabbled over issues such as supervision and insolvency rules. However, a deeper single market has gone from a nice to have to a must have as the impact of Trump's tariffs on exports has highlighted the need to remove obstacles to compete with global rivals. The Commission says it is prioritising removing what it calls the "terrible ten" most harmful single market barriers, including recognition of professional qualifications and fragmented rules on labelling and waste. Letta, dean of IE university in Spain and president of the Jacques Delors Institute think tank, said he was encouraged by Commission initiatives to tackle the most critical unfulfilled parts of the single market — services and capital. They include promotion of a savings and investment union and removing barriers to business in services, Multiple legislative proposals are due in 2025 and 2026. Aslak Berg, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said the Commission seemed to be serious about reforms that made a difference, but needed to get EU members on board. Letta said there were though two grounds for optimism. Firstly, EU capitals were aware of the need for change. "The other key point that makes me optimistic is the fact that we have a fantastic friend on the other side of the of ocean, because the acceleration that is taking place is all because of Trump," he said. Letta said the EU needed to push through EU-wide laws called regulations, rather than directives that allow EU members to set their own course on common goals. He also urged the EU to be energised not paralysed by Trump. The EU took a pause after driving through movement of goods and people and its new currency in the late 1980s and 1990s, but then got sidelined by a series of crises, from the sovereign debt crisis, Brexit, COVID-19 and the energy crisis. "The European Union usually is able to focus to one crisis at a time, and today we are all focused on tariffs. That is a problem. Because in reality, my guess is the completion of the single market is more important than all the rest."
