[TusharK]

Automobili Lamborghini has announced the appointment of Nidhi Kaistha as the new Head of Lamborghini India, effective April 1, 2025.



With over 25 years of experience across the hospitality, aviation and automotive industries, Nidhi brings extensive expertise and leadership to her new position. She will oversee the brand’s sales, marketing and after-sales operations in India.

Before her recent appointment, Kaistha held the post of Manager - Regional Sales & Pre-Owned Cars at Porsche India.

In India, the demand for Lamborghini supercars has soared in recent times. In 2024, Lamborghini sold a record 113 units in the country, 10% more than the previous year.

Link to Team-BHP news

[cityslicker86]

I'm keen to understand the magnitude of difference in responsibilities of a Sales head of a mass market Auto OEM in India (such as Maruti, Hyundai etc.) and that of a luxury brand such as Porsche, Lamborghini etc. in India. Considering that these brand have no local manufacturing or assembly operations and do extremely low volumes (Lambo sold 113 cars in the entire year in 2024-25), and cater to the ultra rich, the skill set required must be completely different.

For instance, managing the expectations of a film star, a unicorn founder-promoter, a builder (real estate), a trader, a lawyer, an investment banker, a billionaire industrialist, a politician etc. must be quite challenging. Not to mention that to have sold 100-odd cars, they must have worked on 1000-odd leads. E.v.e.r.y.o.n.e expects to be pampered. Financing such cars is another interesting challenge. Not your simple SBI car loan, is it? At the same time, managing your bosses in Italy or Germany is another ordeal. Branding events, managing illegal imports, legal cases, defaulters, etc.

Interesting topic!

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by cityslicker86

I'm keen to understand the magnitude of difference in responsibilities of a Sales head of a mass market Auto OEM in India (such as Maruti, Hyundai etc.) and that of a luxury brand such as Porsche, Lamborghini etc.

The difference will be huge. That's why they have selected a candidate from hospitality background and not a person who manages say Suzuki or Hyundai. Lamborghini has sold around 113 cars and probably there are only around 250 people in India who have the capacity to buy one. So this job involves a lot of personal canvassing and membership (or at least visibility) in select clubs. No doubt she ticks all these boxes.

Super car sales involves a lot of customization and probably some buy back scheme (I don't know, cause I've never been approached. ).

[shankar.balan]

The required profile for such a body of work, is nothing short of extra-ordinary.

The skill sets and patience needed to manage high value customers, whose companies very probably pay taxes equivalent to the GDP of some small country; many of the said customers are likely peculiarly characterised by their mercurial, ‘Prima Donna-esque’ natures and a certain propensity to throw tantrums.

Therefore such customers will definitely need to be handled with great tact, politeness and diplomacy.

This similar profile of person would be right for say, a high-end real estate company, or auctioneers/ purveyors of fine art and similar rarefied products and services which are far beyond the ken (and reach) of us ‘regular Joe Bloggs’…

Personally, I am deeply appreciative (having worked in some leading companies in the Hospitality Industry), of the sheer ability of a ‘lady-of-quality’ being ideally suited for such a profile of work.

There are many situations which I have encountered and observed from a distance too - and these can only be handled with the great delicacy and finesse and gentleness which are hallmarks of the ‘fair gender’ , if I may hazard such an adjective, in this ‘woke’ day and age.

Therefore I totally and wholeheartedly wish Nidhi the very best success in this.

[GTO]

Girl power . Great to see a gal at the helm of one of the most iconic supercar marques in the world. The Auto CEO world, otherwise, is male-dominated.

Look past the new corporate look and you'll see a woman crazy about cars, her work and being part of this incredible industry!

Well done, Nidhi.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by cityslicker86

I'm keen to understand the magnitude of difference in responsibilities of a Sales head of a mass market Auto OEM in India (such as Maruti, Hyundai etc.) and that of a luxury brand such as Porsche, Lamborghini etc. in India.

Frankly, it’s below average. I have been taken care of better at a Nexa dealership than Porsche. The sales guys are mostly from the Industry, e.g., Toyota, BMW, or Mercedes. The less we talk about the managers (GM and like), the better.

After Covid, sales for premium models are in Auto mode. I have some experience with Porsche in past few years. These guys will follow you profusely for a regular Cayenne but will not give a hoot if you have to configure a Turbo or GT model. Most Lamborghini and Ferrari models are sold out for the next few years or so. Repeat customers or new, there’s hardly any difference in how they are handled. It all depends on what sort of model you want. So, for common vehicles, you can be treated like a king, with doorstep test drives, nice coffee and all that. Even Discounts!

And this is not any different from regular manufacturers, you may get better attention if you want to order a Hyrider than say if you want a Land Cruiser. It’s all dependent on supply and demand.

On the subject, having a lady with experience in hospitality, perhaps that's why Porsche used to have so many brunch/ dinner parties, mostly for potential customers. Even with events like track days, Porsche expects dealers to get 80% new probable customers and 20% existing. Porsche has done very well last year across all the markets. This has to do with the hype and scarcity they have created. Some of their top variants have 1 or 2 allocations for our market.

Looks, I need to get registered as a potential customer with the local Lamborghini dealership

[androdev]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Frankly, it’s below average. I have been taken care of better at a Nexa dealership than Porsche. The sales guys are mostly from the Industry, e.g., Toyota, BMW, or Mercedes. The less we talk about the managers (GM and like), the better.

One thing to remember is that, in India, employing people to take care of a customer is not that expensive. Mass market brands are able to provide personalised experiences (pickup, drop, delivery celebration, test drives at home, etc.) very easily and often do a much better job due to better training and processes. Such services in European and similar countries are not available to customers of mass market brands. In that sense, these luxury brands have lost their main USP when it comes to customer service.

Also due to demand-supply dynamics, they don't really have to try that hard to meet their targets unless they inadvertently piled up excess inventory of a dud product.

Another important consideration is that Indian customers are not very brand loyal when it comes to luxury products. Very few want to be repeat customers. They would prefer to experience different brands and products.

I see more initiative from the dealership organisations to organise events to promote dealership brands than any top-down approach from these manufacturers to go after customers. The numbers are too small to make these people sweat.

[Burgman_tales]

Based on her LinkedIn she only has 3-4 years experience in the hospitality industry at the start of her career and almost 17-18 years in the automotive industry.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Burgman_tales

Based on her LinkedIn she only has 3-4 years experience in the hospitality industry at the start of her career and almost 17-18 years in the automotive industry.

Im thinking the fundamentals learned in the Hospitality world and her otherwise background are whats going to hold her in good stead.

[kvamshi04]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Im thinking the fundamentals learned in the Hospitality world and her otherwise background are whats going to hold her in good stead.

An initial stint in the hospitality industry can significantly transform one's perception of people and luxury brands. Especially in hospitality sales, where one regularly deals with demanding guests, individuals develop the ability to handle challenges in any customer-facing role with confidence.

As a hospitality trainer, I see this as an exciting new avenue opening up for my students. One of them is currently taking care of front office at Porsche.

I look forward to seeing more of such appointments in the automotive luxury segment.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by kvamshi04

An initial stint in the hospitality industry can significantly transform one's perception of people and luxury brands. Especially in hospitality sales, where one regularly deals with demanding guests, individuals develop the ability to handle challenges in any customer-facing role with confidence.
.

How nice! I completely resonate with what you have written, as an ex Hospitality person myself. One learns finesse and the ability to deal gracefully with adverse situations. Probably because of my early (greatly enjoyable) years in that wonderful industry (33 years ago now!) and having seen and served under some truly superb senior management professionals, I have an inherent deep compassion for service folks. If at all possible, one should treat them kindly and with respect. They have a hard time most days. I know because Ive been there.