Underlining the growing appetite of India’s uber-rich, British luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce doubled its sales volume in the world’s third-largest car market during 2023 and expects the growth momentum to continue in 2024 as well.
“India is doing well. India is one of the highest-growing markets for Rolls-Royce. We have doubled our sales in 2023,” Rolls-Royce Corporate Communication Manager for Asia Pacific Hal Serudin and Yadur Kapur, director of one of the Rolls-Royce dealerships in Delhi, said on the sidelines of launching the brand’s first fully electric sedan Spectre.
Serudin and Kapur did not disclose the number of cars they sold in India but said it is in the high double digits. Industry sources told Autocar Professional that Rolls-Royce’s sales in India during 2023 could be around 60-65 units. The British automaker currently imports cars from its UK factory and has three dealerships in India: Delhi, Chennai, and Hyderabad. BMW AG-owned Rolls-Royce has sold 6,032 units globally in 2023.
Sales of luxury and super luxury brands such as Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, and Lamborghini, have been on an upswing in India with the growth in the domestic economy and consumers' increasing aspiration for luxury. Autocar Professional learns that close to 1,000 units of super luxury cars or top-end luxury cars have been sold for the first time in India during 2023. “The trend for buying more luxury cars is really growing, and after COVID-19 people want more luxury,” Serudin said.
Going forward, Rolls-Royce expects to continue its strong growth here given the performance of the Indian economy. “We have a strong order pipeline for 2024,” Kapur said. Rolls-Royce has seven models in its line-up here and it takes six to eight months on average to fulfil the orders. The new Specter has a one-year waiting period.
Kapur noted that Rolls-Royce has a wide range of customers like lawyers, business people, doctors, and young tech billionaires, and its average customer age has come down to 35 years. “Earlier our customer age was a little old. Post-pandemic, our customers’ average age has become younger. People are now looking to enjoy lives,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce plans to completely transition its vehicle line-up to fully electric by 2030 globally, including India. The new Spectre comes with a driving range of 530 km and Kapur believes 530km is a good range for India as the company’s customers drive 40-50 km a day.