Mercedes Benz retains volume leadership in the Indian luxury car market in 2017
Mercedes-Benz registered a record sale of 15,330 units in the January to December 2017 period growing at a robust 15.9%, firmly maintaining its strong hold on the Indian luxury car industry. In contrast, BMW sold 9800 units, Audi sold 7876 units and Volvo clocked its best year ever, with 2029 units.
2017 was a successful year for Mercedes-Benz which saw the introduction of the Long Wheelbase ‘Made in India’ E-Class and strong growth in volumes in the C-Class and SUV segment. The GLC, GLE and GLS range of SUVs continue to retain the top slots in the SUV segment for the 2nd year and have been the mainstay of the India portfolio. The performance division Mercedes-AMG also achieved double-digit growth in 2017.
Clocking more than 15,000 sales units is a first for the brand in India and the strategy for 2018 is ‘The Best Keeps Leading’, which will be rolled out in the form of product launches, after-sales & services and network expansion. The Mercedes-Maybach S 650 will be launched at the Auto Expo 2018, a range of AMG products will make their India debut, and new after-sales initiatives would be introduced through the year. The retail network will reach out to newer markets and the luxury quotient across existing dealerships will be further improved.
Brand experiences would focus on emerging Tier II and Tier III markets with initiatives like Brand Tour, LuxeDrive and AMG Performance Tours being the highlights for year 2018.
