20% Of Mercedes-Benz India's Sales Come From Online Platform: Santosh Iyer

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed several carmakers to adapt the online platform to sell cars during the lockdown period. Even luxury carmakers opted for digital channels to connect with their customers, including Mercedes-Benz India. The German carmaker launched ‘Merc From Home' e-commerce platform last year in April 2020. The big takeaway has been that the digital platform has contributed to the carmaker's overall sales. In a recent interaction with carandbike, the company said that about 20 per cent of its sales in the country come from the online retail platform.

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Speaking to Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, Editor-In-Chief, carandbike, on the Freewheeling with SVP segment, Santosh Iyer, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India said, “It's been interesting times for us. We always keep asking how do we challenge ourselves, what can we do to redefine the market. So last year when we started e-commerce and online sales for luxury it was a big question, whether people will buy. And today 20 per cent of our sales are online. And that's a very big step. That means customers are coming in, they are paying the booking amount online and of course, the balance subtractions happen offline. So that's a big step. India will be one of the leading markets in the world when it comes to online sales. We are quite proud of this fact.”

The platform was introduced to offer a hassle-free and highly personalised car buying experience for customers. The online channel offers a comprehensive buying solution, right from selecting and booking a car to finalising finance options and getting the car delivered at the doorstep. It also provides on-road pricing information, live consultation with an e-demonstration of the car, and chat with a sales executive from what it is calling a consultation studio.

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The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class was recently launched in India with prices starting at Rs. 2.17 crore (ex-showroom, India)

The recently launched new-generation Mercedes-Benz S-Class is also available for sale on its e-commerce platform. The new flagship sedan gets a starting price of Rs. 2.17 crore (ex-showroom, India). It is smarter, more feature-loaded and much safer than its predecessor. The car was also crowned the World Luxury Car Of The Year at the 2021 World Car Awards. The sedan comes with a choice of petrol and diesel engines. The former is a 363 bhp 3.0-litre petrol, while the latter is a 326 bhp 3.0-litre oil burner.