Mercedes-Benz Leads Luxury Car Market in India, BMW on Second Position

Sales in the country’s luxury car market have increased rapidly in the last few years. Germany’s Mercedes-Benz holds the first position in this market in the first half of this year. The company’s sales increased by almost nine percent to 9,262 units. In second place is BMW, which has sold 7,089 units.

Mercedes gets a major share of sales from the SUV segment. Its models like GLA, GLC, GLE and GLS have strong demand in this segment. Mercedes’ luxury sedans like A-Class, C-Class, E-Class and S-Class are also getting good response from customers. The company also has the first position in the electric vehicle (EV) segment in the luxury car market. In the first half, the company’s sales in this segment stood at 60 percent on a year-on-year basis. The share of EV in its total sales is about five percent. In comparison, BMW has sold only 397 units in the EV segment.

Mercedes launched the first electric car EQC in the country. Last year, Mercedes had made record deliveries of cars during the festive season. This indicated a strong response from customers. The launch of new and updated models has helped Mercedes in increasing the pace of sales. Last financial year, Mercedes’ sales in the country grew by nearly 10 percent year-on-year to 18,123 units. Recently the company introduced Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC SUV and AMG S 63 E Performance Edition.

The company believes that the increasing demand for high-end luxury cars like the Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC SUV and the AMG S 63 E Performance Edition is an indication of the growing popularity of this segment. The premium vehicle segment includes vehicles priced at Rs 1.5 crore and above. The company is also emphasizing on EV to increase sales. Mercedes claims that out of every four vehicles sold in the country, one is a top-end vehicle. The company expects to get about 25 percent contribution from the country in its total EV sales by 2027. India is the fifth largest market abroad for the company. Its new EV models will be a mix of imports of fully built units and fully knocked down units assembled at the company’s Chakan plant in Maharashtra.