Mercedes Benz India – which grew volumes by 10% to a record 17,408 units last year – expects sales to increase in double-digits in 2024. To realise this targets, the company has firmed up plans to invest an additional Rs 200 crore to enhance capacity, drive in new products and introduce new technologies in the country this year.
Santosh Iyer, Managing Director at Mercedes Benz India told ET, “Last year, we recorded best-ever sales in the Indian market. While the average age of our buyers has seen a decline when compared with pre-covid years (2019), the average selling price of our vehicles have gone. The proportion of sales to women buyers and salaried professionals too has risen indicating structural changes in the market here. Growth is definitely there (in the market here.” Prior to this, the company had registered best-ever sales of 15,822 vehicles in 2022.
Iyer was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of SUV GLS priced between Rs 1.32-1.37 crore (ex-showroom, India). Of the dozen-odd new product interventions in the market, Iyer said half would be in the top-end vehicle segment.
Overall, as many as 47,000 luxury vehicles were sold in the local market last year, which is an increase of about 21% over 38,000 units sold the year before. The penetration of luxury vehicles in overall car sales, however, remains low at little over 1% making manufacturers confident of growth prospects here.
As per a report by property consultant Knight Frank, India ranks sixth in the pace of growth in the number of self-made people with net assets worth $30 million or more and are under the age of 40 years — a key customer segment for luxury products including vehicles.As regards electric vehicles – which comprised 4% of sales at Mercedes Benz India – Iyer said adoption will increase but over time. Iyer informed, “EVs are a marathon not a sprint. In addition to more products, there has to customer education about electric vehicles. There are still a lot of questions about range, charging, resale value when it comes to EV. But we do expect 20-25% of our sales to come in from electric in the next four years.” Overall, Mercedes Benz has invested Rs 3000 crore in the country since it commenced operations in 2024. The company sells 24 vehicles in the market here, some of which are imported into the country.