Interview with Sharad Agarwal, Head of Lamborghini India

Sharad Agarwal, Head, Lamborghini India, accepts the award for the Huracan Evo.

India was one of the first markets to receive the Huracan Evo. So, would it be safe to say that India is a priority market for Lamborghini?

Definitely. India is a strategic market for the future growth of Lamborghini, and this is something that we’ve showcased with our actions in the past as well. 2012 is when Lamborghini decided to create the right setup and structure in India, because we understood that we needed to provide the right experience to our customers and prospects in this market, at par with international standards. So, what you saw recently with the Evo was that India was one of the first markets in the world where we launched this car, but we also did this with the Urus in 2018 – when India became one of the first markets to receive this model. We also got the Aventador SVJ at the same time as we delivered it across the world. This shows how important and critical India is for our future growth. 
 
If you didn’t have restrictions in terms of supply, how many units of the Urus could you sell in India? 

The demand for the Urus is very strong, and the car continues to be on a waiting period of eight to nine months – but Lamborghini isn’t about volumes. It’s about exclusivity. We always want the demand to be higher than what we supply to any market or customer. With the Urus, we have a challenge as the demand remains high in all markets around the world, and with a similar waiting period. There are some markets that actually have a higher waiting period than what we have in India. Right now, the idea is for us to supply the right numbers to the market so that we can meet customer’s expectations. 
 
How has the current market sentiment affected your segment?

The market has been quite challenging in 2019, and there are various factors that have led to this slowdown. However, we, at Lamborghini, have been able to successfully beat this trend, and we’ve been able to do this riding on the launch of new models. We launched the Huracan Evo at the beginning of the year. This really helped us create a good order bank this year and the success of the Urus is also continuing. We are bringing the right products at the right time. Secondly, the way that we’re engaging with our customers and prospects, and also the way that we’re working to expand this, is helping us to keep the growth momentum. Despite all the challenges we’re facing in the market, I’m very proud to share that this year we should grow by 30% over last year. 
 
Do you foresee a change in customer sentiment looking ahead?

I think in the last one or two months, we are seeing some positivity coming back. Yes, the market and the economy are going through a correction phase, but I think people are slowly aligning to the current market. I expect that 2020 will definitely be much more positive. 
 
Recently, we’ve seen a lot of electric hyper-cars being launched. Is it possible to imagine a ‘Raging Bull’ being electric?

We believe that the technology is still evolving. It hasn’t evolved to the point where it can provide the driving dynamics and emotions that a Lamborghini customer expects from a car. Lamborghini is all about the sound, the emotion, the vibrations that you feel in the car and also the true performance of the car when you drive it on the road or at the track. Right now, electrics are not yet ready to provide that sort of experience to our customers. However, having said that, we recently presented our future electric super-sports car concept, the Terzo Millennio. It showcases an electric super-sports car for the future, but it’s still a concept. For now, we will continue with our naturally aspirated engines. Maybe, we will introduce a hybrid as a first phase, but electric is still far away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAaTWvFeJhE

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