Nearly 200 Aston Martin cars being driven in India: Company official to WION

India's first Aston Martin (an S-type sportscar) was driven on the country's roads in 1928, that's almost two decades before the nation gained Independence and nearly four decades before the Aston Martin DB5 featured in the James Bond flick, Goldfinger(1964).

Cut to 2023 (the brand's 110th year), and there are almost 150-200 Aston Martin cars in the South Asian country. The British Supercar brand bets big on the Indian market, where it sees good demand from Metro cities and a few Tier-2 cities, an Aston Martin official told WION, during an unveiling event for the brand's latest offering - DB12 Coupe.

"The world's first Super Tourer" - that's what the British carmaker is calling the latest iteration in the DB series.

"It offers the performance of a supercar and the luxury of a grand tourer",Tushar Anand, Vice President, Aston Martin New Delhi tells WION.

According to him, the sales figures of the brand's SUV offerings 'DBX' and 'DBX 707' in India are reflective of the niche interest in luxury SUVs in the country.

In addition to these SUVs, the brand also offers its DB-11, DB-12, and Vantage models, whereas, rare variants such as Valkyrie and Valhalla are only available on special order.

In India, the latest model DB-12 starts at 4.59cr ($551K) ex-showroom. The DB12 has a claimed top speed of 202mph (325kmph), and a 0-60mph (0-96kmph) time of 3.5 seconds, all thanks to a 4.0 Twin-Turbo Mercedes AMG V8 engine expertly tuned by Aston Martin engineers.

This engine offers 680 horsepower/800NM torque and power is fed through an 8-speed automatic transmission and for the first time in an Aston Martin DB model, an Electronic Rear Differential, the company said.

Customised versions of the vehicle would take the price further up. It is notable that such a hefty price tag is a result of the 100 per cent import duty that this British-made luxury supercar attracts in India.

However, those who are ready to buy it have to wait around nine monthsbefore they can get their hands on the wheel.

"All our cars are hand-built in Britain and this process alone takes six to nine months and we also have to factor in the customisations sought by the customer. Once the vehicle is ready, shipping it to the customer and getting it delivered would take around 45 days (for India)," Anand said.

Despite operating a showroom and service facility only in the country's national capital, the firm expects that its supercar-savvy customers spread across Indian metropolitan cities and Tier-2 cities would opt for the DB-12.

"There are a lot of enquiries from Tier-2 cities like Coimbatore and Pune. In terms of service, we have our team of 'flying technicians' who visit the customers spread across the country and offer service support to the fleet," Anand said.

According to reports,Aston Martin has trimmed its delivery forecasts for 2023 after production delays hit the DB12, owing to supplier issues and the integration of the car's new infotainment system. As a result of this, the firm expects to sell 6,700 models this year, as opposed to the previous estimate of 7,000.

Queried about how this production slowdown would affect the Indian market,Tushar Anand said that it would not impact the Indian market and that their Indian customers would get their chosen DB12. On the sustainable luxury front, the firm also hopes to roll out its maiden Electric Luxury sportscar between 2025 and 2023, he added.