Iconic British, James Bond car Aston Martin launched in Punjab

Buoyed by the response from the Indian market, especially Mumbai and Delhi, British luxury car maker Aston Martin, immortalised as James Bond’s car in the popular movie series, is now targeting Chandigarh and Punjab, also considered as one of the biggest market for luxury cars.

The company showcased its latest luxury sports car ‘Vanquish’ in Chandigarh, the third city to be selected for the purpose. The selection of Chandigarh after Delhi and Mumbai itself shows there is no dearth of buyers for luxury cars in Punjab.

The first deliveries of the new sports car are expected to begin in early 2013 and with the company looking at Chandigarh and Punjab as potential markets. Priced at Rs 3.85 crore, the Vanquish is powered by a 6.0 litre, V12 naturally aspirated petrol engine that produces a peak power of 565bhp at 6,750 rpm and generates a peak torque of 620 Nm at 5,500 rpm. Further, the car touches 0-100 in just 4.1 seconds with a top speed of 295 Kmph.

“I am delighted to be unveiling Aston Martin’s newest and most technically advanced car yet – the new Vanquish in Chandigarh. The new Vanquish mixes beautiful design with impressive technology such as the superb new infotainment system. This is the latest incarnation of everything Aston Martin knows, informed and developed from One-77,” said Sanjeev Hazari , director, Aston Martin, New Delhi, while speaking to Business Standard.

“The first deliveries of the new sports car are expected to begin in the early 2013 and we see Chandigarh and Punjab as potential markets for the buyers of this luxury car,” he added.

On being asked whether the company has any plan to open new dealership in Chandigarh, he mentioned, “Currently we don’t have such plans, but in near future we may consider it. At present, we are going to serve this market from Delhi dealership only.”

It is worth mentioning that Punjab is one of the biggest market for luxury cars like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Volvo among others. Further, in order to tap high net worth individuals, earlier, another world-famous British car maker Rolls-Royce Motor appointed its dealer in Chandigarh. The new dealer in Chandigarh is likely to be functional by third quarter of 2012 and will be operated by Select Cars Private Limited, the group behind Rolls-Royce Motor Cars New Delhi and would cater to the Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana market. The Chandigarh dealership joined Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad as representatives for the revered British automotive marque in India. Also, in February this year, the company announced the debut of the sixth new Rolls-Royce model, Ghost Extended Wheelbase in Chandigarh.

Echoing similar sentiments as Hazari, earlier, Herfried Hasenoehrl, head of New Business Development, India, Sri-Lanka and Bangladesh, Roll Royce said that Chandigarh is the perfect place to enter the next phase of expansion in India. “We have already seen a healthy amount of interest from Chandigarh and Punjab based customers and I have every confidence in the potential of this highly important territory,” he added.