Mercedes-Benz India, the country's leading luxury carmaker, said it sold 11,789 vehicles in India during the January-September 2018 period, which was marginally lower (0.67%) on the back of dynamic market challenges and a higher base.

The company says it sold more cars in the first three quarters of 2018, than it did in the entire 2014 (Jan-Dec 2014: 10,201 units), that was led by overall momentum from the mainstay models in the portfolio comprising -- the E-Class sedan, C-Class sedan, S-Class sedan and CLA and the GLA, GLC and GLE, which it says continues to drive volumes.  

Mercedes-Benz India says it also faced significant headwinds in terms of prevailing micro-economic factors like rising interest rates, inflationary hikes, depreciation of the rupee and rising import costs among others, which has slowed down demand and may force the company to look at a price revision. Additionally, a substantially high base of last year also posed significant sales challenges in Q3 2018.

Michael Jopp, vice-president, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India said, “We continue our sales momentum and leadership in the Indian luxury car market as our customer centric initiatives have been bearing fruits. We are satisfied with our sales performance despite experiencing the prevailing micro-economic headwinds and also a high base of 2017, which was a result of the strong built up to the GST rollout and also the onset of an earlier festive season, posing stiff sales challenges."

"We are however, satisfied with the sales performance of our mainstay sedans and SUVs which remains our key volume drivers despite many comparable products in the market.  Moving into the last quarter of 2018, we are confident of a good festive season. We have introduced an array of products in the Indian market including the new C-Class and with a strong brand connect, unmatched service network and an impeccable customer trust, we would like to continue our positive outlook for the market,” added Jopp.

The long wheelbase E-Class sedan continued its sales success across markets and continued to remain the single highest selling model for the brand in January-September 2018 period.