The US-based Shelby Super Car (SSC) will launch the world’s fastest car capable to reach 400+ kmph named as Ultimate Aero. Ultimate Aero will be out in India with a price tage of over Rs 6 Crore that will make it the costilies car sold in the country. The company has decided to launch the car in India the first launch would be in Mumbai and in span of few month it will reach New Delhi. The Aero, produced only in the US, costs around $654,400 (more than Rs 3 crore). Indian customers will have to pay much more for the Aero because of the country’s high import duties of up to 100%. The Mercedes-Benz Mayboach, currently the costliest car sold in India, is priced around Rs 5 crore. “Sales of super luxury cars are on the rise in emerging economies such as China and India. These are seen as stable markets for such cars,” said an industry analyst who asked not to be named. Luxury car sales in India beat the global downturn A recent Merrill Lynch Capgemini report had revealed that the growth in the number of millionaires is the fastest in India. Luxury car segment – comprising top models from Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Bentley – is the fastest-growing segment in the domestic auto industry. The Aero is fitted with a fuel-injected 6.35-litre twin-turbo charged V8 engine delivering 1,183 bhp of power and is capable of reaching 0-60 km/hour in 2.7 seconds. Shelby expects to sell a few dozen of Aeros in India every year. The conservative estimate is due to the high price tag and the poor condition of Indian roads. Asia’s third-largest economy will take a few years to see such super cars in large numbers, as it doesn’t have the kind of highway infrastructure required for such vehicles.Aero would be the first high-speed car sold in India. The world’s top luxury carmakers like Bentley, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar have seen their sales zooming in the past few years in India. The Aero – which will compete with other supercars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini
, Bugatti and Koenigsegg – comes with a host of luxury features including customised supple leather seats and suede interior, multi-speaker music system, on-board video and DVD screen, automatic back-up camera, navigational backup, power windows and mirrors. The car is built of lightweight titanium and carbon fibre material to minimise weight. The two-seater, butterfly door (up sky-folding) car runs only on premium unleaded 91 high octane petrol, which is now available in some of India’s largest cities. The Indian luxury car market has traditionally been a saloon and sports utility vehicles market, mostly from the BMW and Mercedes-Benz stable. India, the world’s second-fastest growing car market, has seen the sales of luxury cars growing at a fast rate in the past one year, despite a global downturn that affected sales in developed markets such as the US and Europe. Sales of high-end cars is expected to cross the 10,000 mark by 2010. Mercedes-Benz has launched its famed AMG series in the price range Rs 2-3 crore. BMW will launch its two-seater Z4 roadster in October with a price tag of Rs 60 lakh. The cars in the Rs 1-4 crore bracket – Audi R8, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lamborgini, Mercedes-Benz – are posting robust sales in the country. Custom-made cars like Bentley and Rolls-Royce – which have a quota allotted to each market – have sold out their entire quota for India for the past three years. The Indian market has also been witnessing the launch of an array of super bikes such as the Suzuki Hayabusa, Yamaha VMAX, Honda CBR1000R, American iconic brand Harley Davidsons Fat Boy and Italian Ducati bikes in the price band of Rs 10-60 lakh.
