Mercedes-Benz India is anticipating a “flat” growth in luxury car sales for the current financial year due to market uncertainties and customer indecisiveness. According to Brendon Sissing, Vice-President of sales and marketing, the company will consider it a good job if they can match last year’s sales figures. This forecast comes despite the company registering a 10% growth in sales in the first quarter of the fiscal year. In the 2024-25 fiscal, Mercedes-Benz India sold 19,565 units, and they are expecting similar numbers this year.
The company’s sales are largely driven by established markets such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad, which account for 75% of total sales in India. Mercedes-Benz India has a presence in over 50 cities across the country. To boost sales, the company is launching a new event called the Dream Days Festival, which will showcase their entire range of cars, including sedans, SUVs, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and AMGs.
The customer profile for Mercedes-Benz India typically consists of professionals aged 35-40 years, working for multinational corporations, start-ups, or in fields such as medicine, law, and chartered accountancy. Interestingly, the company has seen a surge in demand for BEVs, with sales increasing from 4-5% of total sales last year to 8% in the first quarter of this year.
Mercedes-Benz India began operations in 1994 and has sold over 200,000 cars to date, with 50,000 units sold between 1994 and 2013, and an additional 150,000 units sold between 2014 and 2024. The company manufactures luxury cars for the domestic market at its facility in Chakan, near Pune. The recent launch of the AMG CLE 53 4Matic+ Coupe, priced at ₹1.3 crore, is expected to contribute to the company’s sales figures. Overall, Mercedes-Benz India is cautiously optimistic about the current financial year, given the market uncertainties and changing customer preferences.