Share of top-end cars in Mercedes’ India sales nearly doubles in 5 years

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As Mercedes-Benz India focuses on high-end vehicles (TEVs), or those priced above Rs 1.5 crore each, the segment’s share in the company’s total sales has jumped to 25 percent from 12 percent in 2018, it said. company. In a statement on Tuesday.

The company’s TEV sales rose 54 percent year-on-year to 2,000 units in the first six months of 2023, with one in four Mercedes cars sold in India. This segment has contributed around Rs 3,000 crore to Mercedes-Benz India’s top line, she says.

Overall, Mercedes-Benz India recorded its best-ever first-half sales in January-June 2023, selling 8,528 units, an increase of 13 percent over the same period last year.

Santosh Iyer, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, told Business Standard over the phone that the company has launched many luxury cars like the GLS, S Class, S-Class Maybach, GLS Maybach, AMGs and the EQS in recent years, which To increase the TEV sector.

Luxury cars have changed the quality and structure of the luxury car segment, despite the increase in car prices. He said demand for these vehicles remains strong. The growth of the LEV segment also highlights the changing preference and maturity of luxury car buyers in India, especially at the top. Our TEV strategy has been very successful in creating brand desirability.”

The focus on TEVs has also pushed up the German luxury automaker’s average selling price.

Mercedes-Benz India has around 10 TEVs in its portfolio of 22 vehicles, with prices ranging from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 5.5 crore.

Iyer said the company has an order book of 3,500 vehicles now, with TEVs making up a large portion of it. “We launched new TEVs during the first half of this year – E53 Cabriolet, SL 55 AMG, etc. Due to the high demand for TEVs and the waiting period, we got more customizations from our parent company. Thus, we were able to deliver more cars. New launches and higher provisions helped us achieve 54 percent growth.

Iyer expects the good trajectory for TEVs to continue in the second half of the year as well. “Growth in TEVs will be in high double digits. We still have it [a waiting period of] Six to 24 months in many of our TEVs. For GLS and S-class, we have reduced it from 1 year waiting 6 months. For the GL63 AMG, the waiting period is still 24 months.

Sales of Mercedes’ battery electric cars grew tenfold in the first six months. While the company didn’t disclose exact numbers, it did say that strong customer response to its two BEVs — the EQS and EQB — led to this growth.

Iyer said that while the EQS (Rs. 1.6 lakh) is priced higher than the EQB (Rs. 80 lakh), Mercedes has opted to localize the EQS. “Had we focused on volumes alone, we’d have pretty much tuned out the EQB’s output. But we’re focusing on the top for our electric playing, too.

Mercedes is eyeing 25 percent of sales in India from electric vehicles in the next three to four years. Iyer said that because there were only two Mercedes models at the moment, consumers had no choices, and some had to go for combustion engines.

“The comparable vehicle to the EQB is the GLB (in the internal combustion engine category). Here approximately 80 percent of customers choose an electric vehicle or an EQB. As we roll out more electric vehicles, the share of electric vehicles in our overall sales will go up.”