Copyright © HT Media Limited
All rights reserved.
India's largest luxury carmaker Mercedes Benz is going to increase prices of its cars soon. The German auto giant has announced that a price hike of about five per cent will be implemented across 15 cars it sells in the country. According to the luxury carmaker, the price increase was necessitated by rising input costs as well as other factors like sharp increase in forex since the last 4 months. This is the first time this year that Mercedes Benz has announced a price hike across all its models in India, including those with the Maybach badging.
According to the price list released by Mercedes-Benz, the A-Class and GLA in the luxury category, E-Class and C-Class in the core luxury segment and top-end luxury models like GLS, S-Class, S-Class Maybach and EQS will see a price bump from next month. The Mercedes-Maybach S 580, its most expensive model, will cost ₹2.69 lakh (ex-showroom). Prices for Mercedes cars like A-Class and GLA SUV will be hiked by ₹2 lakh. The S 350d limousine price will be hiked by ₹7 lakh.
Mercedes-Benz models | Price (in ₹ex-showroom) from April 1, 2023 |
A 200, A 200d | 44 lakh - 46 lakh |
GLA 200, GLA 220d | 48.50 lakh - 50 lakh |
C 200, C220d | 60 lakh - 61 lakh |
E 200, E 220d | 76 lakh - 77 lakh |
GLE 300d 4M, GLE 400d 4M | 90 lakh - 1.08 crore |
GLS 400d 4M | 1.29 crore |
S 350d, S 450 4M | 1.71 crore - 1.80 crore |
Mercedes-Maybach S 580 | 2.69 crore |
EQS 580 | 1.59 crore |
Santosh Iyer, Managing Director and CEO at Mercedes-Benz India, was quoted by PTI saying, ""In October it (Euro) was around 78-79 (to a Rupee) and now it is at 87. It is really putting pressure and if we don't take this proactive step now, it will deteriorate our overall business model in India." Iyer added, “About 80 per cent of the cars sold are on finance... So, we have come up with certain agility products now, with the residual value of the product is guaranteed, and the EMI impact will not be more than ₹2,000 to ₹3,000."
Mercedes-Benz India leads the luxury car segment in the country and has developed a significant gap between itself and its closest rivals. According to the carmaker, it sold 15,822 units of luxury cars in India last year, compared to 11,242 units in 2021, with a growth rate of over 40 per cent. 2022 saw the highest ever sales for Mercedes Benz in the country, showing why it leads the luxury segment.
Besides driving in the fully-imported units through CBU route, Mercedes-Benz has also increased local production of its global models in India. It has helped the carmaker to keep the prices down and make its aspirational aspect more within reach of buyers. Models like E-Class LWB, GLE and GLS remain the power performers but Mercedes-Benz says its high-end vehicles like GLS Maybach 600, Maybach S- Class, S-Class are also gaining a lot of attention. The German luxury maker also plans to drive in 10 new cars this year to keep up the momentum.