India’s largest luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz sustained its sales momentum in the Indian market despite facing varied market dynamics. The sales momentum in the first three quarters of 2018 were driven by mainstay products in the portfolio comprising the Long Wheelbase E-Class, the C-Class sedan, compact cars and SUVs.
The company also faced significant headwinds in terms of prevailing micro-economic factors like rising interest rates, inflationary hikes, depreciation of the rupee, rising import costs etc. which has slowed down demand and may force the company to look at a price revision. Additionally, a substantially high base of last year also posed significant sales challenges in Q3 2018.
Michael Jopp, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India commented,
“We continue our sales momentum and leadership in the Indian luxury car market as our customer centric initiatives have been bearing fruits. We are satisfied with our sales performance despite experiencing the prevailing micro-economic headwinds and also a high base of 2017, which was a result of the strong built up to the GST roll-out and also the onset of an earlier festive season, posing stiff sales challenges. We are however, satisfied with the sales performance of our mainstay sedans and SUVs which remains our key volume drivers despite many comparable products in the market.”
Mr. Jopp added,
Moving into the last quarter of 2018, we are confident of a good festive season. We have introduced an array of products in the Indian market including the new C-Class and with a strong brand connect, unmatched service network and an impeccable customer trust, we would like to continue our positive outlook for the market.
Sales success of the new Long Wheelbase E-Class Sedan continues: Mercedes-Benz India’s sales momentum is buoyed by a young and comprehensive product portfolio comprising the New Generation Cars, the sedans, the SUVs and the AMG cars. The Long Wheelbase E-Class sedan continued its sales success across markets and continued to remain the single highest selling model for the brand in January-September 2018 period. Similarly, the C-Class sedan and the E-Class sedan continue to remain on top of customer preference, with the E-Class breaking a new record in the mentioned period. The SUVs comprising the GLA, GLC and GLE and the high performance AMG models also sustained their momentum in the performance segment.
Highlights
- Mercedes-Benz sold more cars in the first three quarters of 2018, than it did in the entire 2014 (Jan-Dec 2014: 10,201 units)
- Overall momentum from the mainstay models in the portfolio comprising the E-Class, C-Class sedan, S-Class sedan and CLA and the GLA, GLC and GLE which continues to drive volumes for the brand
- Ten fascinating products launched in the first three quarters of 2018; more exciting product introductions to follow in the remaining quarter
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