New Delhi: For India's young and upwardly mobile, buying a luxury car doesn't just end their pursuit for the dream vehicle. They want it to be bespoke and are ready to splurge on customisation.
Audi India recently spec'd an Audi RS Q8 with 17 customisation options - the most the automaker has reported on a vehicle - for a buyer in Bhubaneswar.
The exclusive paint shade, which Audi calls 'Java Green', alone cost Rs 12.29 lakh.
Another customer from Coimbatore spent Rs 36 lakh personalising Audi's flagship electric SUV, RS e-tron GT, adding all possible options from a carbon fibre roof to Matrix Design LED headlamps that have one million micro-mirrors each to project precise beams of light, and the steering wheel wrapped in custom Alcantara textile.
A businessman from Delhi asked BMW to embroider his initials and the logo of his company on the seats of his new vehicle, while in Mumbai, three units of Mercedes-Benz's G400d / AMG G 63 models were sold with 30-plus customisations that alone cost Rs 1.5 crore.
From rare paintwork, handcrafted leather interiors and personalised equipment to special registration numbers as per numerological or astrological beliefs, Indian buyers are spending handsomely to personalise their luxury vehicles, senior industry executives said.
The demand is increasing even as the buyers are getting younger. For instance, at 38 years, the average Indian buyer is the youngest for Mercedes-Benz globally. "Today, customers want exclusivity," Audi India head Balbir Singh Dhillion said. "Their cars are an extension of their personality."
While Audi has seen Indian customers spending up to Rs 70 lakh in customising their cars, at Mercedes-Benz India, many buyers of top-end models such as the Maybach and AMG are ready to shell out as much as 20% more on the price of the vehicles for customisation. At BMW India, this goes up to Rs 50 lakh.
The price of most of these vehicles starts at more than Rs 1.5 crore.
Interest Seen in Small Cities Too
German automakers Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW together account for 85% of India's luxury-vehicle market where sales totalled 46,000-47,000 units in 2023, up 21% from the previous year and the highest on record.
Other luxury-car makers like Tata Group-owned Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo Cars also offer customisation options.
"More than 70% of the G-Wagons and 74% of the Maybachs we sell are customised. Be it custom colours, material, numbers, our buyers are willing to pay extra to personalise their vehicles," said Santosh Iyer, managing director at Mercedes-Benz India, the market leader in luxury vehicles.
While luxury-car companies are seeing such customer requests more frequently in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, many buyers in smaller cities in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Chhattisgarh too have started queueing up to personalise their vehicles, said automakers. In Kochi, for instance, a Mercedes-Benz customer bought three AMG A 45s with the 'Green Hell Magno' manufaktur paint shades which cost about 20% of the vehicle price.
"Customers in the Indian luxury-car market are undoubtedly interested in high-end features and customisation," said Vikram Pawah, president of BMW Group India.
The German carmaker offers a choice of special paint finishes, handcrafted leathers, interior trims and other equipment details to buyers. Customers like the Delhi businessman can get their initials or logos embroidered on the cushions as well.
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