In a statement released by the company, the Stuttgart-based carmaker says that the rising input costs and increasing Forex rates coupled with the rising inflation are the key reason behind the price hike. These factors have been exerting significant pressure on the bottom-line thus prompting Mercedes-Benz India to revise car prices in the country.
Commenting on the same, Roland Folger, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said, "A steady rise in input costs against the backdrop of an increasing forex rates and high inflationary cost together have eroded our bottom-line. We were left with fewer options but to make some necessary price adjustments to our product range in order to protect the investment of our customers. We hence decided to absorb a higher impact of these adversary factors on our prices, and pass a lesser part of it to the customers, considering the current negative customer sentiment. We want to maintain a sustainable business in this dynamic market and want to retain our premium brand positioning in the market."
Folger did try to soften the blow by talking about the company's various finance schemes and the company's service package - "However, despite this moderate price revision, the innovative and tailor-made financial offerings from Mercedes-Benz like STAR Agility, STAR Finance, STAR Lease, Corporate STAR Lease etc. are specially designed for our discerning customers to drive home their dream Mercedes," he added.
Since the last couple of years Mercedes-Benz has been aggressively targeting the Indian car markets to with a wide range of products. In 2015 Mercedes-Benz launched 15 new products in India taking the top position in the luxury car segment. In fact for 2016 the carmaker announced to launch 12 new products and ended up launching 13, with the latest one being the Mercedes-AMG C43. That said, despite launching several strong and successful products this year, the carmaker feels that grown will be pretty stagnant. And demonetisation of Rs.500 and Rs. 1000 notes also has a major hand in that.
As for other auto manufacturers, home-grown carmaker Tata Motors has announced its plan to increase prices from Rs. 5,000 upto Rs. 25,000. Nissan, on the other hand, has said that their car prices will go up by up to Rs. 30,000. Fellow Japanese auto major Toyota and German auto giant Volkswagen both will increase prices of their model range by up to 3 per cent. South Korean carmaker Hyundai will hike car prices by up to Rs. 1 Lakh.
