Porsche's Rs 1 crore Panamera to vroom in '09

Bullish on the rising demand for luxury cars in India, German sports car maker Porsche today said it will expand its sales network in the country and drive in the company's four-door coupe Panamera in 2009, likely to be tagged at around Rs 1 crore.

Porsche, which sold around 200 units (all above Rs 50 lakh) in the last two years through the import route, hopes to achieve similar sales figure in 2007 as it will expand its network to other cities.

"The market for luxury cars is going to grow steadily in India. A lot of people have money and we hope to tap them for our cars," Mohamed Rahman, MD for the company's Indian operations, said here.

Porsche today launched its first showroom-cum-service centre in India and said it will expand these to Mumbai and the southern region. "The Mumbai facility will be operational by February next year, while we are on the look-out in southern India," Rahman said.

Porsche, which boasts of a variety of high-profile customers to its Indian operations, currently imports vehicles its range from the 'Boxster', 'Cayman', 'Cayenne' and 'Carrera' and their different variants.

"We plan to bring the Panamera to India simultaneously with the global launch. We are confident this will bring higher volumes for the company in India even though it will be priced around Rs 1 crore," Ashish Chordia, CEO of Shreyans Motors, the exclusive dealer for Porsche in India, said.

Chordia said Shreyans Motors will invest about Rs 20-30 crore on the facilities in Delhi and Mumbai.