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Mercedes-Benz India has said it hopes to resume its annual sales volume level of 15,000 plus units from this calendar year.
The company’s luxury car volumes were on a strong growth curve in the past. It clocked annual volumes of more than 13,000 units in 2015 and 2016, and more than 15,000 units in 2017 and 2018. Its previous highest annual sales were in 2018, when it sold 15,538 units.
However, the following years proved to be challenging due to macroeconomic headwinds in 2019 and the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
Strong demand
While it witnessed improvements in demand in the post-second wave period in 2021, this calendar year started well as it clocked the best-ever volumes in the March 2022 quarter. Supported by strong pent-up demand, a host of new launches and associated campaigns, and attractive schemes, its sales started to increase this calendar year, supported by robust demand and a strong order book amid production constraints.
“On the demand side, it is the strongest ever for our brand. But we still have capacity constraints. We had very good production and sales in September, and we are aiming for significant growth not just for the September 2022 quarter but also for the calendar year 2022. We hope to end 2022 with sales of more than 15,000 cars. We currently have an order book of 7,000 units,” Martin Schwenk, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India told businessline during the launch of its locally-made electric car – EQS 580 4Matic, at Titanium Motor’s newly refurbished facility here.
The company is not seeing any weakening demand for its luxury cars. While the order book continues to swell, production-related constraints limit its output and delivery delays.
“We don’t see change in sentiments and we are trying to deliver as fast as possible to meet customer requirements,” he added.
Mercedes-Benz India sold 7,573 units during the January-June 2022 period (as compared to 4,857 units in H1 of 2021). Its September 2022 performance is also expected to be strong, and the sales numbers will be announced next week.
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