India's dream run with super cars is keeps getting hotter. With Ferrari, Maserati and Aston Martin waiting in the wings and the Rs 16 crore Buggatti making an entry, it is now the turn of Swedish super carmaker Koenigsegg Automotive AB to burn the rubber on the roads here. "The company, known for its superfast hand-made dream machines, is set to enter India next week, in partnership with InterGlobe Enterprises, which runs low- cost carrier Indigo," sources said. It has decided to get its cars to the Indian market considering the huge wealth creation in the economy and the rising love of Indians for superfast cars even if they cost a fortune. Koenigsegg, a relatively new company (formed in 1994) that was started by Christian von Koenigsegg, produces hand-crafted supercars at its factory in Sweden, which surprisingly had earlier been home to the Swedish Air Force. Sources said the cars could be priced in the Rs 10 crore range, though there is no confirmation on this at the moment.
While being a virtually unknown brand in India, Koenigsegg has created ripples in the global super car market. The company had the distinction of producing one of the fastest cars in the world in its CCR model that in 2005 became the fastest production car in the world, beating the nine-year-old Guinness World Record of the McLaren F1. Bugatti, however, bettered this with the Veyron later. Koenigsegg unveiled its latest model-the Agera R at the Geneva Motor Show in February that has a five-litre V8 bi-turbo engine-which boasts of a pulsating 1115 horse power (depending on the fuel type).
Despite the absence of adequate infrastructure, India is fast emerging as an upcoming destination for super car makers, purely led by the indulgence of its rising list of billionaires. While volumes are still limited (an overall double-digit market annually), it is giving Indians their taste of speed and aspirational brands. The rising wealth and the global exposure of Indians have seen many opt for these brands, most of them even boasting of having multiple super cars in their driveway. The bullishness has seen virtually all the supercar makers queue up for India. While Bugatti had last year debuted its Veyron at a jaw-dropping ex-showroom price tag of Rs 16 crore, others are about to launch their cars. These include Ferrari and Maserati from Fiat's stable as well as Aston Martin models, the cars that James Bond made famous through many Ian Fleming flicks. German brand Porsche is already selling its sports cars in India for the last many years and has identified it as a key sales destination.
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