Italian super-luxury sports car maker Lamborghini today said high import duty ranging up to 167% is a major deterrent for selling its cars in India. As a result, the company expects its sales to be lower than the last year's level in India this year.

"We sold 22 cars in India last year, a growth of 29% over the sales of 2012. We do not expect better sales this year due to very high amount of import duty in the country, which is as high as 167%," Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO, Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A said.

He said the company would be comfortable if the import duty is capped at 2011 levels, when it was 60%. "We are too small player in India to ask the government to bring down the import duty. It is up to the industry to seek duty concessions collectively," he said.

Another reason for lower sales in India this year, according to him is due to late launch of new model Huracan. It expects to improve its sales in the country next year.

The Volkswagen-owned brand opened its third dealership in India at Bengaluru today. It already has dealerships in Mumbai and Delhi. The company has sold 94 units in the country till date. It has sold three cars from its Bengaluru outlet during the soft launch, he said.

Lamborghini is also considering the possibility of launching its sport utility vehicle in India by 2018, Winkelmann said.

“India is a huge market and holds immense potential for selling luxury sports cars. Lamborghini being the early entrant in the market we want to retain our edge over others. There is a high awareness about the brand here, but sales are low. We need to convert it into sales through various campaigns,” Winkelmann added.

Source:business-standard.com