Maserati head to India

Maserati Quattroporte will be the big seller in India

It’s not a surprise that Maserati has announced it’s going to enter the marketplace in India, very sensibly in partnership with Indian luxury retailer the Shreyans Group, who also import Ferrari.

After all, just about every other car maker is rushing headlong to the sub-continent to cash-in on India’s booming economy and Maserati wants a piece of the action.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re Tata selling the Nano for a plate of rice and a cow’s udder, or Bugatti wanting a Maharajah’s Palace in exchange for their hypercar, it’s boom time in India at almost every level of consumption.

But it’s the top-end of that market that Maserati are after, a market that has so much disposable income a price tag that gets doubled by India’s 100%+ import duty on high-end cars is not remotely off-putting.

It seems the premium car sector in India has grown by over 70% in the last year, and Maserati are hoping that will help them shift more than a car or three, despite price tags for their cars in India starting at around £170k.

Maserati’s plan is to open up in Mumbai this year and in New Delhi in 2012, before rolling out to a total of seven Indian cities in the next few years.

It seems likely that 80% of Maserati sales in India will come from Quattroporte with the other 20% from GranTurismo coupe and the GranCabrio convertible. Maserati expects around 75% of all Maserati sales in India come from either Mumbai or New Delhi. Which is hardly a surprise.

Seems like a plan.

By Cars UK