The pulse of the automotive industry
Vol -l .lssue-8 1 May 2011
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cars and bikes are being
bought by high networth
indi viduals (HNls) as if there is no
tomorrow. And to lure them into
leading a life of absolute style ,
thri! 1and elegance is Th e ESTD, a
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brand that was recently launched
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Products Pv t Ltd .
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in India by InterGlobe Established
Th e compan y is barely four years
old and was established in I ndia as
InterGlobe General Aviation. Now
aviation is just a part of its busin ess
as it gets into the mould of selling
expensive yachts, cars and bikes.
Th e company will soon be ope ning
its firs t exclusiv e showroom in
th e co untry in "l ew Delhi early
2012. For the common man , the
names of the ESTD products could
trigger a frenetic Googl e search.
But for th e teeming millionaires
in the country, the names would
definitely mean a lot, perhaps the
next birthday gift to their spouse,
or the ir lo ver tucked away secretly
in some up-scale home in one of
the design er locations built next to
a wate rfall.
The prices ofThe ESTD produ cts
vary from produ ct to product. The
Koenigseg g Agera costs f 12.5
crore w hil e the Deronda car, a
two-seater sports car, costs f 40
la kh. The Gumpert costs around f
5 crore. The pri ce s of yachts range
from US$ 1million
(~4. 5
rore
approx.) to US$ 80 million (f 360
crore app rox.) The aircraft sells for
US$ 1miilion to US$ 2 million (f
112.5 crore)
In order to make the lives of
these HNls a ta d m ore excitin g, The
ESTD is on a ro ll . Motown India met
up w it h the company 's Presid ent
and CEO Nigel A. Harwood, a man
in love with Ind ia. " I first came
t o India in 1993 and during that
t ime I w as with Rolls Royce aero
engines. I have bee n ass ociated
with aviation for around 25 years.
After Rolls Royce, I was Head of
Sales, Airbus for Asia. I sold a lot of
aircraft w ithin India. A majority of
my life has been spent in India. I
love the country, I love the people,
I love the way the country w orks,
despite som e of the failing s it has.
I have been associated with the
country for a long time and I intend
MAY 20 11 MOTOWN INDIA
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MAY 20 11 MOTOWN INDIA
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MOTOWN INDIA MAY 2011
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Nigel A. Harwood
MAY 2011 MOTOWN INDIA
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infras tructure. Interes tingly
enough, afte r four ye ars we
have sold 40 aircra ft. I look at
are able to sell one a year we
sh all be very happy. So do we
believe that we w ill sell one a
som e of th e roads in India are
extrem ely good for driving .
An d it will come. It is a fact that
year? Yes, we bel ieve we will
se ll more than one a year. Once
the car has been driven, once a
things are chan ging, India is
changing. Infrastructure will
car has been te sted, you will not
want to try an ything else, he
be de velop ed ov er a period of
t ime. It's not one-upm anship
add s empha t ical ly.
The company works on a
represe ntative model and
alon e that prompts peopl e to
buy thes e," says Harwood .
The decision to nam e the
co mpany's brand The ESTD was
p rompted by th e its desire to
create a kind of mysti q ue and
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www.motownindia.com
that mod el is very simple.
It signs up an exclusive lo ng
term agre ement with each of
the manufa cturers. Wh at the
manufacturer gets from that
intrigue. "We are interested in
is branding, marketing and a
bringi ng th e right produ cts
into Ineli and in the ca se of
sal es team that is d edicated
to their product. And their
role is to go and talk one on
t he Koenig segg Agera I do
not think there is d finer ca r.
Having driven it and ha ving
one basis with HNls to sell
these products. "This is no t
be en to the factory and see
what these people develop, it
is quite a remarkable car. Every
so mething someone would buy
just passing the sh op. You put a
lot of thought into buying one
little feature of this car has
of thes e produ cts. We have a
one on one relationship with
t hese HNls. We work with them
someth ing very unique about
it. They produ ce 15 ca rs a year.
MOTOWN INDIA MAY 2011
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to d eve lop as to which product
suits them be st, is th e produ ct
fi tting in their bu dget, does
it meet their requirements in
terms of customis ation etc .
Once we con f irm all that we
sell th e product to them. It
is not a showroom type of
mode l. You will not w alk in to a
showroom and buy a ~ 1 2 cro re
car," he says.
Harwood beli eves that India
is not a sprint . Rat her, he says
it i a m arathon. "We do not
want to go an d clos e dea ls
t hat qui ck ly. The infras t ructure
for mar ine is not th ere. Whe n
it com es we shall sell more
yac hts. Will it happen next
year? Probab ly not. It's all
---- ---
mind. If India is adding 12,000
It's all about b uild ing t he righ t
grow. The propensity to spend
product and o ffering the right
is there;' he cla im s He defines
HNls as t hose with a net surplus
he sees t he pro d uct and til l t he
t ime he sig ns th e dea l. The car
and the yac ht will al so have
M AY 20 11 MOTOWN INDIA
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Increasing number of HNls
Everybody predicts India to be
the seco nd largest lu xury market
it the world. "I am not talking
about hand bag s and shoes etc.
I am talking about these types
of produc ts we offer. The market
potential is enormous and we
have establi shed ourselves
with a data ba se of 14,000 HNls
with whom we have a personal
contact on a very regul ar base.
Th is allows us to build from
the aviation portfolio into the
ya cht portfolio. It's that we are
doing now, transitioning t heir
abou t bu ild ing re lationship.
eigh t month s i.e. from t he time
--
typi ca lly the similar lead time
profil e," he notes.
millionaires to the lis t every
yea r, I think my list too wo uld
p roduct. Buyi ng an aircraft,
typically ou r lead time is six to
-- -
of US$ 6 million or min imum net
incom e of USS 6 mil lion (ap prox.
~ 27 (rare) per annum. That is his
target au di ence.
Harwood says th at th er are
still some exciting products
in the car market that are not
avai labl e in India. He refu ses to
name th em or his competito rs, he
says, will go chasin g th em. "We
are opening a showroom in early
2012 which will have some of
these p ro d ucts. It is our intention
not to move into our dealership
model but a sho wroom that will
showcase some of our products.
It will be an exclusive TD
showroom. One of th e ca rs we
are working is a stunning one
priced at { 2 crore. That should
sell very co mfortably in India;'
he say s. He continues to smile as
we take his leave. He is definitely
ent hused by the ~ 2 (rore stunner
w hich is on its way! MI
www.motownindia.com