Audi and Mercedes-Benz Fight for Top Spot in India

Mercedes-Benz India reported a growth of 40 per cent in the January to March, 2015 period as compared to the same period in 2014. At 3,566 units, the growth translates into the best-ever quarter sales for the German luxury carmaker in India. Furthermore, the company's sales for the financial year 2014-15 stood at 11,213 units - a growth of 17.5 per cent over the previous financial year's numbers.

FY2014-15 was laced with Mercedes launches - the important ones, to be precise. First one to arrive was its bread & butter - the E-Class E350 CDI. Up next was its cheapest crossover in India the GLA-Class, which was soon followed by the new C-Class, and the CLA-Class.

Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, "The robust 40% growth along with other multiple sales records achieved in the first quarter of 2015, is a clear indication of our commitment to a strong customer focus. We are glad to witness our 'Live the Best' philosophy yielding rich dividends and our objective of achieving a double digit growth moving in the right direction."

While Mercedes' line-up consists of primarily new products, its closest rival - Audi's biggest earners i.e. the A4 and the A6, are admittedly old. The new A4, though spied testing, is still going to take some time to arrive here. Audi is going to need a handful of refreshed products if it intends to gain/maintain traction in India.

And though Merc posted a stronger last quarter against the rival from Ingolstadt, Audi's overall sales in FY 2014-15 are still the highest at 11,292 units with 10,851 units sold in the calendar year 2014, and 3,181 units sold in the January - March, 2015 period.