Mercedes Benz eyes to break sales record in India this year

Mercedes Benz is confident to make 2023 its best ever year in India. The German auto giant is expecting double-digit growth this year and improve its achievement last year. 2022 is the best sales year for Mercedes so far. The luxury car manufacturer had delivered 15,822 units last year. Mercedes has already clocked an impressive 13 per cent growth in the first six months of the year with more than 8,500 luxury cars delivered already. This puts the German carmaker on track to beat its previous sales record.

Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO at Mercedes Benz India, said that demand for luxury cars have been on a surge particularly after the Covid pandemic. According to Iyer, new customers are opting for the more expensive versions of its luxury cars these days. With the current surge in trend, Mercedes Benz hopes to consolidate its lead as India's top luxury carmaker.

Mercedes Benz has already introduced seven new cars in India this year. The latest model to launch is the EQE SUV. The third electric vehicle from the German auto giant has been launched at a price of ₹1.40 crore (ex-showroom). The carmaker is expected to launch at least three more models by the end of this year. With a plethora of choices in its fleet, Mercedes sees no dearth in demand for its luxury cars. Iyer was quoted by news agency PTI saying, “We are now coming into the third quarter of this year, and we feel the trend should continue which should mean that we should be able to end this year on a record high once again."

Luxury cars in India contribute a meagre one per cent to the overall sales in the passenger vehicle segment. However, 2023 promises to be the best year for the luxury segment which Iyer expects to end 2023 with around 45,000 units. "This year we can see the market growing with everybody participating and that's a great sign for the overall health of the luxury car market," Iyer said.

Mercedes Benz is also focussing heavily on its electric vehicle lineup. The carmaker expects a quarter of its overall sales in India to come from EVs within the next five years. Currently, around five per cent of its total sales come from electric cars. "It's a matter of time that this market matures and we see more adoption. To go to 25 per cent (share of EV sales) if you're rushing for volumes, even now we can get more products...but I think we want to read the market," Iyer said.

Mercedes recently announced that it will extend its EV charging network to other brands from October. The move is aimed to democratise EV charging ecosystem in India to push for EV adoption further.