Tipping the hat to India’s creme-de-la-creme for insinuating Mercedes-Benz to bring and expand a fairly new top-end vehicle segment which comprises 1 of every 4 Mercedes sold in India today. The pricing for this segment starts at INR 1.77 crore with the S-Class limousine.
The most-recent addition to this elite 'gentry' is the new Maybach GLS 600 facelift launched in India starting at INR 3.35 crore (ex-showroom) and the AMG S 63 Performance at INR 3.30 crore.
Lance Bennett, Vice President Sales & Marketing at Mercedes-Benz India, told ETAuto that the company expects to maintain double digit growth by the end of the year. The German luxury carmaker clocked best-ever quarterly sales of 5,412 units in Q1 CY24 and also reported its highest-ever monthly sales in March 2024, as well as registered a 10% year-on-year growth in FY24 volumes.
The total penetration of Mercedes’ top end vehicles is 25% while 60% of the company's sales come from what they call, the middle section in the portfolio. The entry-luxury market makes just 15% of its total sales in India. For the TEV segment, Mercedes recorded a growth of 54% on that particular segment over the first half year.
Being wary of its clientele and sales charts, Mercedes India will continue to focus on its top- end vehicles and maybe inch the brand up an entire segment.
“We have also seen a slight growth in core and the entry luxury continues to develop nicely as well. Customers want to experience luxury for the first time. Our finance tools, such as a guaranteed future value and attractive EMIs help customers transition into luxury or try luxury for the first time,” he said.
Growth projections for luxury EV market in India
Mercedes-Benz has also scaled back its global EV investments in line with the lukewarm response to electrification. But for India, Mercedes-Benz will launch 7 new cars in 2024, three of those will be full electric and likely in the TEV segment.
“In the first quarter, I think it was 130% growth. We went from 4% penetration the year before to 6% penetration. Pretty happy with the growth that we received year on year. That's with only three models as well, with the plan to double that portfolio, add another three in the next six months or balance of the year and we'll have a much greater opportunity to transition. We are very happy with customers transitioning at their own pace as well, we are fully supporting it with new models coming to market. We're educating consumers, suggesting that they test drive and enjoy an electric vehicle. But, you know, at the end of the day, if they still prefer an internal combustion engine, that's okay with us, he said.”
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