Mercedes-Benz India Clocks Most Successful Sales Quarter, Ever

Thirty years since it “officially” set foot in India, Mercedes-Benz perfectly timed the celebrations with a record number of three-pointed cars sold in a quarter. Its previous high was in 2017 at 4698 units. But last quarter, Mercedes-Benz upstaged that number by selling roughly 800 units more, taking its annual financial year tally to 18,123 units. This too, is one of its highest ever, which helps it further strengthen its position as India’s highest-selling luxury car brand with a portfolio of 19 cars, including AMG and Maybach.

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To put this in perspective, BMW sold 3680 units (including Mini) last quarter in India, which was also its highest ever. Audi sold 7027 units in FY 23-24, which too was a 33 per cent growth for the Ingolstadt brand. Among the trio, BMW has the largest portfolio of models – 29 while with 17 models, Audi has the smallest.

Mercedes-Benz EV sales grew 130 per cent last quarter and accounted for nearly 6.5 per cent of the overall number

Interesting statistics from Mercedes India’s quarter sales announcement included the fact that it grew overall by 10 per cent compared to the previous financial year. Although on a smaller base, growth in EV sales in this period was a whopping 130 per cent compared to the same period last year. This is despite the fact that it currently sells only three BEVs (battery-powered EVs)– the EQB and EQE SUV and the assembled-in-India EQS 580. Mercedes sold over 100 electric cars every month over the last quarter. Mercedes-Benz India CEO and MD Santosh Iyer pointed out that the Stuttgart marque is the overall number one luxury brand in India when it comes to EV sales too ‘despite not chasing that tag’. Incidentally, he too completes 15 years with the brand this year.

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Santosh Iyer, CEO & MD completes 15 years with Mercedes-Benz in - that’s half the time the brand has been in India

While the E-Class saloon, which is due to be phased out soon to make way for the new one towards the end of this year, continued to be one of its best-sellers (only a few units remain unsold), SUVs amounted to nearly 60 per cent of its sales. Not surprising, given half the vehicles in its current portfolio are SUVs.

Despite coming to an end to make way for a new one, the E-Class remained its best-seller last quarter

The Mercedes-Benz range starts in India at Rs 45 lakh, but its performance in the top segment (Rs 1.5 crore onwards) continues to be stronger. In fact, one of every 4 Mercedes-Benz cars sold in India is in the latter segment and hints at the appetite of Indians for all things luxury. One of the reasons could also be the ease of finance. Santosh pointed out that every second Mercedes car sold is financed. In fact, the German car brand sold more cars in the Rs 1.5 crore+ price bracket than it did in the starting Rs 45-60 lakh range. Of course, the meat of its sales has been in the mid-range. Models with prices ranging from Rs 60 lakh to 1.5 crore accounted for more than half of its annual sales.

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SUVs account for 60 per cent of Mercedes-Benz India sales

With continued demand and more launches in the pipeline, Mercedes India also announced a further network expansion with 10 more cities to be added this year. This is to ensure that a Mercedes owner needs to travel far to buy or service his/her car. It also plans to introduce AMG Speed City – a concept that will give its customers access to certified instructors from Stuttgart and Affalterbach to help them hone their driving skills in a controlled and safe environment.

Globally, Mercedes-Benz sold nearly 5.7 lakh passenger vehicles between January-March 2024. Its India numbers currently account for only 3-4 per cent of worldwide sales but help it maintain the number one position here, comfortably.