The YOLO Wave

Luxury carmakers are singing the 'you only live once' tune to lure younger buyers, and it seems to be working

- Prerna Lidhoo

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE. Aka YOLO. In 2012, this new 'word' was shortlisted by Oxford American Dictionary in its English Word of the Year list, after it became part of millennial lingo following Canadian rapper Drake's track The Motto. Even as millennials swing and 'live' by YOLO, another community has taken a particular liking to the word-global luxury carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus, Lamborghini and others. The word has become synonymous with their engagement strategy for a whole new set of shoppers-the millennials and the GenZ. Even India, which is considered to have a predominantly savingsbased mindset, has taken to YOLO with gusto, which experts argue has only risen post the Covid-19 pandemic. Net effect: the market for super luxury cars (above 2.5 crore) in India is set to more than double this calendar year to 600-650 vehicles.

"There has been a definite mindset change in India where traditionally one-third money was kept aside as savings. The YOLO effect is at play here. They want to save for a rainy day but they don't want to save for the next generation," says Naveen Soni, President of Lexus India, adding that people are now buying luxury cars as their first car because their social and financial needs are met by the previous generation. The luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota said that by July 2022, it had crossed the sales of the whole of last year. That, Soni says, is credited to the growing number of ultra high net-worth individuals (UHNIS) in the country, which grew 11 per cent in 2021 to 13,637 from the year earlier, the fastest pace in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Knight Frank data. The number is expected to rise 39 per cent between 2021 and 2026.