[Samba]

Let me try to figure out the reasons from the opposite end!

Who buys a supercar?

1) You got to be super rich, so you can spare few crores just to pursue your hobby.
2) Most importantly, you love super cars and you are crazy about speed.
3) You have other cars.
4) You give a damn to practicality.

There are many who ticks the first three points. But the point number four is where most of the buyers are stuck!

99% owners of the supercars are businessman. They very well know the deprecation of these cars. So most of them will either back off or invest that money into their business to enhance it.

Going abroad and taking a supercar in rent is a much more viable option for them, rather than taking the pain to buy one and maintain it.

And lastly another big deterrent is, our country just do not have the perfect infrastructure to backup the owners. Be it the road condition, traffic, availability of fuel, outlook of our society and many more.

[Storm2.0]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Am sure the rich who can afford a supercar, can afford to have a support car just to refuel their supercar.

It's obvious sir that the rich can afford the fuel. Here the matter of concern is the lack of availability of high octane fuel outside city limits and the mileage being poor will not let them go too far.

I hope my point is clear now .

[kiku007]

Are there any good reasons for people to be buying more supercars in India?

Just because someone has the money, they can't build an ice castle in the desert. Actually they CAN if they want, but it makes no sense if you know what I mean.

[Stigissimo]

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

Reason #21 - They probably got one abroad

If you are rich enough to afford a supercar, you probably go abroad a lot, and can afford to rent one there(if not buy one outright).

Seconded. Speaking from my own experience, you get a good deal more value and choice buying and enjoying a car abroad. In Delhi, I daily a Mercedes B or E class and they suit my needs perfectly. Even those are overkill in many situations. On the other hand, my 640i and E46 M3 in CA felt like perfect fits - the roads, laws and speed limits were all very conducive towards those cars. I would absolutely hate to drive either one on Indian roads.

[am1m]

I'd have thought it was pretty obvious really. Almost everyone has posted the correct reasons, but I thought those points were self-evident. (Were this not TBhp, I would have though the title of the thread was click bait )

In countries where one can use these sorts of cars to at least a good fraction of their intended performance, I suppose the moderately rich will be buying quite a few of these cars. Someone in the EU who is at a higher executive salary in a big company perhaps?

With the infra and safety bottlenecks here, I guess even someone who is moderately rich will think twice and it's only the super-rich who can afford to keep one of these machines without thinking twice. Someone who can afford to have an Innova full of thug...I mean security guards trailing him as he takes the vroom machine out for a Sunday morning spin to have a dosa, whose son can be assured of basement and guarded parking at the nightclub he frequents when he borrows one of daddy's cars. People like that.

[SnS_12]

Even if the duties were reduced drastically, a lot of people would still avoid one till the infrastructure is sorted out and there is easy availability of the required high octane fuel.

I, myself at times struggle driving my Honda Brio on broken Indian roads. With a supercar, I will have to first figure out to take it down from my parking on the second floor, without scrapping the front or worst just getting stuck

[bharatbits]

All the reasons stated above are deal breakers. For me even one of those would have been a deal breaker.

My Linea front bumper scrapes when i get in and out of my cellar parking at home despite having a reasonably high GC. Don't know how Mercs and other sedans will come in there forget super cars.

For our pot hole ridden roads SUVs are the best bet.Not to mention the respect they command.

[CarBot]

I was in USA for 6 years, I never thought about MPG / KMPL. I drove a 4Runner TRD Off road and yes it was Petrol. I remember the best economy with 4Runner was 13MPG and worst as 8 MPG. I came back to India while searching for a SUV the first point for me was it should be Diesel then should be economical to run and maintain. The reason I bring this up is as a typical desi even with buying power we cannot get rid of desi mentality while we are in India, but as soon as we are abroad we tend to buy luxury without thinking twice.

[1.2TSI7DSG]

One of the major reasons I think is the availability of good quality fuels outside of the urban geographies. Even on fantastic roads, it is a struggle to find decent quality/trustworthy bunks to fuel normal petrol (diesel you get enough).

Also is the alternate use of the money in the bank. I would buy a villa in France rather than spend on a supercar in India. if I have the money left, I will then buy a supercar in France!

[superbad]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

There are very few highways, like say the Bombay-Pune highway, where you can drive peacefully.

Au contraire, Pune-Mumbai expressway is anything but that, due to escalating traffic & congested ghat section. A better example would be Yamuna expressway.

[ajmat]

Reason 28

Overwhelming Overheads, Underwhelming Sales

The brands demand that the dealership be located in a high-end expensive location and be equipped with the expensive tooling. Again, some dealers are pressured to keep an inventory of 3-4 cars which costs.

Porsche can hack it since the Cayenne and Macan provide revenue flow. Additionally Porsche in Bangalore operate from a small showroom. (an allowance from the Chordia days but the sales it churns means Porsche look the other way on this!)

Lamborghini in Bangalore, despite being the most successful dealer is moving out of the Vittal Mallya location (prime eyeball location) to a small place up the road on Lavelle Road next to the Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Maserati could not hack it. No one is willing to take up a Rolls/ Bentley dealership on a regional basis.

Only way to survive is if multi-brand dealerships are brought back like in the 1970's

[mchandra13]

Originally Posted by Storm2.0

It's obvious sir that the rich can afford the fuel. Here the matter of concern is the lack of availability of high octane fuel outside city limits and the mileage being poor will not let them go too far.

I hope my point is clear now .

I am not sure of this. A very famous Kannada Film Star owns a Hummer H3 which is known to give 1KMPL. Hummer doesnt care about the road conditions and Hummer manual only recommends 87 or higher octane petrol. However I read somewhere that he commented that its too expensive to drive the beast in India and uses it rarely. So operational expenses do matter even to the rich unless you are an Ambani, may be.

Originally Posted by CarBot

I was in USA for 6 years, I never thought about MPG / KMPL. I drove a 4Runner TRD Off road and yes it was Petrol. I remember the best economy with 4Runner was 13MPG and worst as 8 MPG. I came back to India while searching for a SUV the first point for me was it should be Diesel then should be economical to run and maintain. The reason I bring this up is as a typical desi even with buying power we cannot get rid of desi mentality while we are in India, but as soon as we are abroad we tend to buy luxury without thinking twice.

Its not completely about desi mentality. Looking from a Purchasing Power Parity perspective, the cost of petrol in US doesnt hurt your pocket as much as it does in India. I always had V6 engine cars while in US which doesnt give more than 20MPG. I even had a Camry V6 which used to have a mileage of 18MPG. So mileage was never the criteria in purchasing cars in US. But in India its natural to consider the mileage from a practicality perspective.
Having said that there are enough desis in US who buy Toyotas and Hondas for their fuel efficiency and better resale value. So desi mentality doesnt go away fully even when you are in US(but that discussion is for another day)

[mk5182]

My desi mind says, why buy when you can hire/rent (Zoom, Revv, Sabrentkaro, Furlenco, Pepper fry, etc.) which seems to be #trendingnow. When you don't have to worry about lurking tax men, media, being a show-off, regular maintenance, my neighbor bought a better model, roads, re-sale, it makes sense for an Indian to spend less and still enjoy the luxury (at others expense)! After all, our Indian tradition has always taught us to save for a rainy day! (remember the grasshopper and ant story)

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by mchandra13

I am not sure of this. A very famous Kannada Film Star owns a Hummer H3 which is known to give 1KMPL.

1 KMPL Seems unlikely, 13 miles per gallon is claimed for city, which translates to 5.5 KMPL, no matter how bad you drive its hard to imagine you will get less than 1/5th of that.

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/hummer/h3/2010/

[DrCar]

Its my assumption that most of the rich people who could afford a supercar stay in metro cities because they have businesses over there.

Infrastructures of the city isn't improving. Conditions of the roads also aren't improving much.

Any rich person can definitely afford a supercar, then why is the demand less?
Few years back when the infrastructure was good enough and car congestion was less, people could risk buying a supercar as their second car and park it safely in their residential complex.
With the infrastructure crumbling and the roads turning into a nightmare, buyers are intelligent enough to stay away from such cars which demand constant pampering. With parking space also at a premium, buying a second car isn't logical.

Imagine a situation where a businessman owns only a supercar which has to visit a service center for some issues. Such cars will lie at the center for days together unless parts arrive.
For such people, car is not only a mode of transportation but can also double up as a office space for meetings with clients while traveling. They would rather prefer a better, practical and reliable cars. For them, buying a car which can handle all types of roads and conditions makes sense. They cannot lose precious time and energy just to maintain their only car.

Taking a supercar out for a drive on our roads is more risky affair compared to the risky businesses that they invest into.