Coimbatore region’s passion for cars attracted an iconic brand to the city on Saturday.
LuxuryA combination of power and luxury, Aston Martin’s Rapide S was on display here at The Residency. Performance Cars, the dealer for Aston Martin in India, had included Coimbatore in its list of 10 cities for the road show this year.
Aditya Naik, sales manager of Performance Cars, told The Hindu that the road shows started about a month ago and apart from Rapide S, V8 Vantage was also on display.
Test drivesIn every city, invitations are sent to 10 or 15 visitors so that they can experience the car. There had been enquiries for Aston Martin cars from Coimbatore earlier. When people test drive the car, they understand that these can be used on the Indian roads.
The potential customers might not have the time to visit Mumbai to see the car and test drive.
The road shows help more people experience the car. Invitations were sent to consumers in Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur, Udumalpet and Karur.
The car is hand-built and any detail can be customised. For instance, the owner’s name can be embossed on the seat leather.
When customised, the delivery time is six months to eight months.
Rapide S, a four-door, four seater sports vehicle, was launched in India two months ago.
While V8 Vantage is the entry-level model, the ex-showroom price of Rapide S is Rs. 4.4 crore. So far, two cars (Rapide S) have been sold in the country.
“Pricing particulars are explained in detail to the visitors at the road shows,” he says.
Import dutyIt attracts 175 per cent import duty and the local registration tax varies.
Gaurav Parikh, marketing manager of Performance Cars, said that over two dozen Aston Martins were sold in the country last year.
This year (2013) had been sluggish for the automobile sector and the company hopes to close the year with a sale of 12 cars.
