Aston Martin Vanquish Launched

Buoyed by a strong response to its sports cars in India, iconic British super sports carmaker Aston Martin rolled out yet another super grand tourer called 'Vanquish', expanding its portfolio at the higher end.

At an ex-Mumbai showroom price of Rs 3.85-crore, the Vanquish is the most expensive Aston on Indian roads barring One-77, which, with a price tag of Rs 25 crore, has been gobbled up by just one uber-rich Indian.

The Vanquish is the fifth car in Aston Martin's India portfolio. The other cars in the portfolio are the Vantage (in the Rs 1.8-2.75-crore price range), the Rapide (Rs 3.25-3.3 crore), the DB9 (Rs 2.9 crore) and the DBS (Rs 3.7 crore).

If the British carmaker has opted to bring a brand priced at the top end of the spectrum, it's because over three-fourths of its sales in India come from the higher priced models.

"The initial belief was that we will sell a lot of entry-level cars like Vantage and a few of the high-end variants, but it has turned out to be the other way around. Cars retailing at upward of Rs 2.5-3 crore account for 80% of the 40-odd cars we have sold so far," Lalit Choudhary, director, Performance Cars, the official importer of Aston Martin cars, told ET.

The super grand tourer does not have any direct competition but, in terms of price points, will take on the sportier Ferrari models like the 458 and the F-12 and the Lamborghini Aventador.

The exclusive luxury car segment priced above Rs 1.5 crore has the likes of Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce and Bentley battling for a share of the well-heeled Indian's ample wallet.

The segment has more than doubled in the last 18 months to 200 units a year with entry of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Maserati into the country. Choudhary says just like the overall market, super sports cars have been hit by the slowdown. The segment is expected to remain flat in 2012-13, he points out