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Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday said it expects to make around ₹3,000 crore by end of this year, by selling only cars which are priced above ₹1 crore each, a senior official at the company said.
“There was hardly a market for ₹1 crore plus a few years ago, but this year we would end up selling at least 2,000 cars which are ₹1 crore plus each, so we will make at least ₹2,000 crore from sales,” Santosh Iyer, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Mercedes-Benz India told BusinessLine on the sidelines of new product launches here.
He said the company has products such as GLS, GLS Maybach, GLE350, GLE400 and even the new E-Class (on-road price) which are all above ₹1 crore and the cars which are above ₹2 crore like the new S-Class and most of the AMG Series.
So, even if the company sells around 10,000 units, 20 per cent of the total sales will come from these vehicles. Declining to comment on forward looking figures, Iyer said, “We expect to grow with higher double digits for the rest of the year. But, we cannot say that there is no third wave or anything like that…pandemic is still there so we cannot make any projections.”
There are many buyers from corporates and professionals like doctors and lawyers who are buying such cars, Iyer said.
The company on Thursday launched two new products under its AMG brand, 'E 63 S 4MATIC+' and ' E 53 4MATIC+' which are also priced above ₹1 crore – The E63 S priced at ₹1.7 crore and E 53 at ₹1.02 crore (all prices ex-showroom).
Iyer said Mercedes-Benz is the only luxury brand which is not giving much discounts as compared to other competitors like Audi and BMW, but still there are many buyers who are visiting the Mercedes stores.
According to industry watchers, Mercedes gives discounts up to ₹2 lakh only, where as companies like Audi and BMW are giving discounts up to ₹7 lakh on various models.
The E 63 S 4MATIC+ comes with a 4-litre V8 biturbo engine (612 HP) mated with a nine-speed transmission. The E 53 4MATIC+ on the other hand features an electrified 3-litre engine that produces peak output of 435 HP.
Mercedes-Benz India has retailed 4,857 units in the January-June period this year, recording 65 per cent growth over the same period last year (2,948 units).
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