Ferrari bullish on Indian market; claims all tussle resolved

Seeking to tap the full potential of the Indian market with its two new dealer partners Italian luxury sports carmaker Ferrari claimed that all past cases which resulted from its tussle with previous distributor have been resolved.

The company, which entered the Indian market in 2011 through a distribution pact with the Shreyans Group as its official importer in the country, ran into trouble with the partner, resulting in legal battle and ultimately parted ways last year as customer complaints rose.

"We are restarting the journey in India although at no point of time we ever thought of exiting the Indian market. We have two new dealer partners in Delhi and Mumbai. All the previous (customer) cases have been resolved," Ferrari Middle East & Africa International Sales Director Aurelien Sauvard told PTI.

"The cases have been resolved by Ferrari headquarter in Italy on a case-by-case basis. Each case has been closed and there are no pending cases," he said without sharing details when asked whether past customers who had booked the company's cars have been compensated or given deliveries.

When Ferrari and Shreyans Group were slugging it out, there had been cases of customers receiving no deliveries after booking the company's cars.

"Now we have personally contacted all existing Ferrari customers in India. No matter in which part of India they are, our new partners will take care of their service needs, either by sending technicians or bringing their cars to the service centre," Sauvard said.

Ferrari has appointed Select Cars Pvt Ltd as its Delhi dealer and Navneet Motors for Mumbai, which will open in October.

Acknowledging that 'lessons' have been learnt, he said: "In our new journey, we are ensuring that we do not repeat past mistakes."

Bullish on the Indian market, he said: "Although this is not a full year we are looking at selling 20 units, including the newly launched Ferrari California T, here in India, next year we will have a full year with all the five range of global models available here. We expect good numbers."

The company today launched its Ferrari California T priced Rs 3.45 crore (ex-showroom Delhi). The new dealers will offer the entire line-up from the FF to the F-12 as well as the all-new 488 GTB by the end of the year.

Ferrari 458 Italia, 458 Spider and the 458 Speciale are also on offer, the company said.

"The luxury car market has been growing in India. We are quite encouraged by the response from the market as Ferrari has a good brand image here," Sauvard said.

He said the company will not be looking at expanding presence across India and rather concentrate on growing business in Delhi and Mumbai through its two partners in the next 3-5 years.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)