Twenty percent of Mercs sold in India are compact cars

Mercedes-Benz India launched the GL 63 AMG, one of its biggest and most powerful  vehicles, in India today. That adds to the brand’s halo. But the products at the other end of the spectrum – the A-class  and the B-class – are helping the brand get new customers.

“More than every second A-class customer is a new customer to the brand,” says Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO, Mercedes- Benz India. According to Kern, the entry level models of the marque – the A-class and the B-class -- make up for 20 percent of the total sales volume. That would be around 510 units of the total of 2,554 vehicles the luxury carmaker sold during January-March 2014, which was also its best-ever quarter in terms of sales.

The A-class and the B-class are also helping the Mercedes-Benz brand to be seen as ‘younger’ and ‘sportier’. “Both focus on the new design language like we see in the new E-Class and the new S-Class,” says Kern. Perhaps that’s why they could be next in line to join the portfolio of locally assembled models. Currently, the company assembles the C-class, E-class, ML 250CDI, GL 350CDI and the S-class. The company is in the final phase of doubling its Chakan plant capacity to 20,000 units annually.