In august 2002, Italian automaker Fiat gifted Sachin Tendulkar a Ferrari 360 Modena for equalling Australian cricketing legend Don Bradman’s Test record of 29 centuries. From the time Ferrari’s parent company Fiat made the announcement, every minute detail was carefully recorded—the colour and make of the car, waiver of import tax and its subsequent sale to a Surat-based businessman nine years later.
What piqued the Indian public’s curiosity? Obsession with cricket and the demi-god status of Tendulkar apart, there was also the iconic status that Ferrari enjoyed as a brand. The Italian supercars, that carry the logo of a prancing stallion, symbolise raw power, adrenaline-inducing speed, high performance and luxury.
Despite the fact that Indian roads aren’t appropriate for low-slung supercars like those made by Ferrari and Maserati—Ferrari’s one-time arch-rival that is now also owned by Fiat—they remain the ultimate objects of desire for the country’s rich and famous motoring enthusiasts. Over the years, businessmen, movie stars and sports personalities have braved India’s exorbitant import duties and paid top dollars to import these cars, characterised by the distinct roar of their V8 and V12 engines.
It is no surprise then that despite a bitter first experience in India with their distributor, one that forced Ferrari and Maserati to stay away from the country for a while, the two iconic carmakers find India to be a market they cannot ignore for long. Both luxury car brands are gearing up for their second innings in India and are leaving no stone unturned to ensure it is a success.
Ferrari and Maserati entered India in 2011 with a common importer and dealer—Shreyans Group. However, owing to mounting complaints of alleged negligence in after-sales service and, in some cases, failure to deliver cars even after accepting payment, Ferrari and Maserati severed ties with Shreyans in 2014 and had no presence in the country since then.
“Obviously it [the issue with the dealer] came as bad news. But at no point did we think that abandoning India was a solution,” says Aurelien Sauvard, head of sales for Middle East and Africa at Ferrari, who is also in charge of the Indian market.
Echoing his thought is Maserati’s head of India operations, Bojan Jankulovski. “We took the issue as a learning experience because India is a very important market. We had to re-enter India to fulfil our commitment to our customers,” says Jankulovski.
Ferrari has now re-entered India with two dealers: Navnit Motors in Mumbai and Select Cars in Delhi. Maserati, too, has robust expansion plans. Its first showroom in India is operational in Delhi and is managed by AMP Supercars. By November end, two other showrooms will come up in Mumbai (with Bagga Luxury Motorcars LLP as dealers) and Bengaluru (with Jubilant Autoworks Pvt Ltd as dealers).
Sauvard says one of Ferrari’s top priorities over the last year has been to get in touch with customers who had paid money but did not get delivery of their cars. The carmaker even flew in technicians from Italy and Dubai to service cars already on Indian roads. “We took up the problems faced by each customer with our headquarters in Italy and all cases were resolved,” says Sauvard.
While the experience was a setback for Ferrari and Maserati, analysts say the two brands are too strong to be hampered by the problems of the earlier distributor. “If they enter the market with the right people and take a front view of the whole thing, they will achieve their targets. They have to be in the driver’s seat,” says Nabankur ‘Nobby’ Gupta, founder and CEO of Nobby Brand Architects.
REVISED INDIA PLAY
Ambitious Targets and a Few Roadblocks
Maserati, which sold 36,500 units globally last year, has set itself an ambitious target of selling 75,000 units by 2018. However, its focus remains on exclusivity, says Jankulovski, adding that they are targeting double-digit sales in India. He, however, doesn’t specify the exact number of cars that Maserati hopes to sell in the country.
Ferrari plans to sell 20 cars by the end of 2015 itself. “And this is just a partial year for us in India,” says Sauvard.
Gupta feels that these targets are achievable due to the large number of high net worth individuals in India. “These brands stand for a lifestyle statement. CEOs, industrialists and diamond traders are potential customers with high amounts of disposable income,” he says.
(This story appears in the 13 November, 2015 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)