New Delhi At a time when most Indians’ purchasing power has been crippled by inflation, luxury brands are doing amazingly well in India, seemingly due to the era of low spending options, sluggish demand and the pandemic ‘you’re only one’ Inspired by the spirit of ‘Bar Jeete Hai’.
For example, a Mumbai-based buyer bought a used Audi SUV Coupe RS Q8 from the city’s Big Boy Toys showroom, which deals in secondhand luxury. 2.2 cr, just a shed down 2.5 crores which is the cost of a new model. The car had covered a distance of about 1000 km.
While the rise in used car prices is partly driven by global chip shortages that have hit production, buyers’ willingness to spend huge sums on luxury products, even if they are used cars, shows that Rich Indians no longer want to wait for the pandemic. ,
“Even till last year, this car would not have sold more than this” 1.99 crores. But people are no longer willing to wait for the extended delivery time of 8-9 months; That’s why they also opt for used luxury cars at higher prices. As a result, the demand for our cars has increased by 25% since 2021,” said Jatin Ahuja, Founder and Managing Director, Big Boy Toys.
The demand for the super-luxury segment in India is growing closer to the pre-Covid era. “Lamborghini had a record year in India in 2021. Lamborghini India Head Sharad Agarwal said, “Our volumes grew by 86 per cent (33 per cent over 2019) in 2021, with 69 cars delivered in India.”
Lexus India President Naveen Soni said that Lexus plans to reach 2019 sales figures by the end of this fiscal. Soni said, “People’s spending propensity is increasing after the pandemic, and they are willing to spend and ‘You Only Live Once’ is really helping to drive demand.”
Other luxury goods, such as watches and jewellery, are seeing a promising recovery in 2022 from their lows in 2020. For example, watch brand Ulysse Nardin said that at the end of 2021, its sales in India exceeded those of 2019.
“2022 has had a very strong start in terms of demand, to the extent that we can no longer meet it with our current watch production,” said Teresa Garin, general manager for the Middle East and India for Ulysse Nardin. “So we have experienced a very quick recovery after the pandemic. We are experiencing a huge sale at airports at the level in 2019 and earlier,” she said.
The collective selling luxury clothing and accessories is also witnessing tremendous growth. Amit Pandey, Brand Head, The Collective and International Brands, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle said that the brand has doubled its business since last year and is approaching 2019 numbers. To capitalize on this growth, it plans to launch several new brands, including one each in footwear, women’s and men’s apparel categories, under its collective portfolio. The company retails brands such as Emporio Armani, Hackett London and Versace Jeans Couture.
Pushpa Bector, executive director of DLF Retail, which runs Emporio Luxury Mall in Delhi, said luxury sales have remained stagnant despite the opening up of international travel. “Overall, there is still a lot of demand for luxury watches, but since there is no supply, demand looks exceptionally high. But both luxury watches and jewelery are doing well. DLF Emporio now has both international and Indian There are 11-12 types of jewelery brands.” With millennials preferring branded jewellery, this category will be interesting to see. We also believe that there is a renewed interest in new luxury brands looking to enter India,” he added.
Aul Sarin, a research consultant at Euromonitor International, said luxury goods are seeing a good recovery from the second half of 2021 as the pandemic stabilizes after the second Covid-19 wave. While the category has not been able to reach the pre-2019 sales numbers due to the intermittent lockdown in 2021 and early 2022, the company sees the potential for a complete recovery in 2019 sales numbers by 2024.
“The penetration of luxury products has increased due to the increase in digitalisation. Many e-commerce platforms are now focusing on selling luxury products on their platforms. These platforms offered access to tier II/III cities for luxury goods shopping, which was not the case earlier as all luxury brands were only present in upscale shopping malls in tier I cities,” he added. Tata Cliq Luxury and Ajio Lux are meeting this demand.