[wilful]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

What really ticks me off is the price gouging that these luxury brands have started which is pulling away from the aspirational value for the younger wanna-be owners. Somewhere, it's gonna give and one of them is going to bring down the roof on the others. That will be definitely fun to watch.

I wouldn't bet on that happening in the near future anyway. For these big boys, like many other major carmakers, India is just a sideshow and they just don't give a damn what happens here. Maybe a double digit growth rate (of the economy) consistently for 5 years could make them take a harder look. (Like that old song goes, 'I can dream, can't I')

[GTO]

Mercedes is on a roll:

Record 6659 units sold in the Jan-June 2015 period, a 41% year-on-year growth (Jan - June 2014: 4717 units).

Mercedes-Benz records its best ever Q2 (up by 43%) and best ever half-yearly sales in the company’s history in India (Q2 2015: 3093 units; H1 2015: 6659 units).

Mercedes-Benz nearly equals its total sales volumes of 2012, in the first six months of 2015 itself (Jan-Dec 2012: 7138 units).

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by GTO

Mercedes is on a roll:

What a comeback! Heck, they got me back as a customer after 14 years, even I couldn't resist their stellar new designed products. This is what great design, proactive new product launches and a robust dealer network built over the years brings you. They learnt it the hard way, in 2007 they had BMW launch in india with a hard slap on their face and sales figures for dominating the market with inferior product offerings.
Let's hope their reliability and service matches us

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by Sahil

They learnt it the hard way, in 2007 they had BMW launch in india with a hard slap on their face and sales figures for dominating the market with inferior product offerings.

Hello Sir. Do you also think that the 2007 downfall for Merc was partly because we in India got a new premium product and everyone went after it ? I, for one, think that BMW overtook Merc partly because people were eager to experiment with a new luxury car maker. People wanted more exclusivity too. But now they are coming back to Merc.

I say this because the current generation E is niggle free and the old gen (2014) C and S were solid vehicles. The new S is too early to be be judged and the new C has a lot of niggles. But the earlier generation Mercs were solid except for the Kompressor engine era. People went away mostly because they wanted exclusivity and now they are coming back. I feel there is a charm to a Merc that you cannot explain.

[zulfi hansi]

I think they will close the year at 15000 units, or if they continue to work harder than now and plus newer cars lined up for launch this year they should come to 17000 units. However I don't see much of discounts coming in the year end in view of almost entirely new cars lineup. This is a great effort considering they are all priced at a considerable premium in all segments compared to competition. BMW should be blamed for their own halfhearted efforts here, they have lost it because of their own follies not because others are doing well. They had the best seller 3 series for last 3 years and yet they have failed miserably in getting numbers, now with the new C class I doubt they have anything left to do except price it 10 lakhs less. I count the A4 as the least of all yet Audi knows better how to sell.

I have personally seen a sea change here in Bangalore. MB dealer Sundaram motors was considered like a PSU compared to Navnit of BMW, but in last one year it's the opposite, at MB you are really made to feel special and ready to own a star. Whereas at BMW the attitude is, well the cars sell on their own! Well it shows. On the other hand Audi sales aggression has been consistent from the day one. They have the best sales and marketing team from the top, proof is that they have done better than others for a long time with mostly mediocre products. Its because of them the identity less brand has established an identity ultimately, pure marketing success. Now I see the same aggressive approach at MB, very good to see they are not taking their brand for granted inspite of all new lineup.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

Hello Sir. Do you also think that the 2007 downfall for Merc was partly because we in India got a new premium product and everyone went after it ? I, for one, think that BMW overtook Merc partly because people were eager to experiment with a new luxury car maker. People wanted more exclusivity too. But now they are coming back to Merc.

I say this because the current generation E is niggle free and the old gen (2014) C and S were solid vehicles. The new S is too early to be be judged and the new C has a lot of niggles. But the earlier generation Mercs were solid except for the Kompressor engine era. People went away mostly because they wanted exclusivity and now they are coming back. I feel there is a charm to a Merc that you cannot explain.

People went away from MB because they greniunely were inferior products. Everyone that bought a Mercedes in the last 90's and early 2000's like we did were fed up with the numerous problems. Moreover, the kit levels they offered were pathetic, mercs had manual seats and dot matrix display screen while Bmw came in with all bells and whistles like electronic seats, idrive, xenon lights Etc.

Mercedes had taken the consumer for granted due to their monopolistic position in the market. The Honda Accord and Camry were the closest rivals, great products but didn't have the snob value of the German badge.

[volkman10]

Audi edges past Mercedes to top the chart in August sales.



Source:Management Punditz

[mahesh_sn]

Mercedes-Benz India's juggernaut continues

German luxury car maker Mercedes- Benz today reported 34 per cent increase in sales in India during the January-September period at 10,079 units.

“By selling 10,079 units, Mercedes-Benz sold almost the entire volume of 2014 in the first nine months of 2015,” Mercedes-Benz India said in a statement

The company has introduced 12 new products so far this year besides opening 13 new outlets taking its network reach to 80 outlets across 39 cities

The CLA, the C-Class and the E-Class sedans spearheaded the sales volumes of Mercedes-Benz, coupled with strong performance from the SUV portfolio as well,” it said.

The sedan portfolio grew 39 per cent in the January- September 2015 period, while the SUV category jumped by 70 per cent, it added.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/arti...period/147129/

[GTO]

10,000 luxury cars in 9 months is superb - congrats to Mercedes!

Their fresh product portfolio with some truly snazzy styling deserves credit. I'm sure that, compared to yesteryears, the average age of the Mercedes buyer in India has come down. Take the CLA for example - what a stunning design.

And they've managed this with an ageing E-Class. Wait till the next-generation comes around.

[car_crazy1400]

Congratulations to Mercedes India.

We had bought our E240 way back in 2002.It had features similar to my 10 lakh rupee Opel Astra Club, mind you the Astra felt better on the insides.

And had not looked back at buying another Merc till this year when I got the GL 350.

The quality ( I hope for my sake) has improved a lot , compared to the ones in the early 2000's. I remember my friends' E280 cdi leaking some fluid while it was parked at my house . It took merc dealer 2 days to diagnose.

However, now they seem to be getting the latest products to India and are proactively selling them too.

Another friend of mine picked up an E350 cdi, just last month at a killer price and its a hoot to drive plus much comfortable than the BMW 5 series.

Just hope for their sake that the success doesn't go to their head (as was the case before BMW arrived to India).

[sweetvar26]

Originally Posted by car_crazy1400

Congratulations to Mercedes India.

We had bought our E240 way back in 2002.It had features similar to my 10 lakh rupee Opel Astra Club, mind you the Astra felt better on the insides.

And had not looked back at buying another Merc till this year when I got the GL 350.

The quality ( I hope for my sake) has improved a lot , compared to the ones in the early 2000's. I remember my friends' E280 cdi leaking some fluid while it was parked at my house . It took merc dealer 2 days to diagnose.

However, now they seem to be getting the latest products to India and are proactively selling them too.

Another friend of mine picked up an E350 cdi, just last month at a killer price and its a hoot to drive plus much comfortable than the BMW 5 series.

Just hope for their sake that the success doesn't go to their head (as was the case before BMW arrived to India).

If you don't mind me asking, what price did your friend pick up the E350 CDI?

I didn't know Mercedes are giving discounts actively at the moment.

[GTO]

Says the guy who is currently offering 5 - 6 lakhs off on the 3-Series, up to 10 lakhs on the 5-Series and 25 - 30 lakhs on the outgoing 7-Series.

With barely three weeks to go before the year draws to a close, von Sahr will have reasons to feel pleased with BMW’s showing in India. The premium car market was not in the best of shape when he took charge in ’12 with discounts being the order of the day. “This was not good for a premium brand and we cleaned up our act. We invested in the future like localisation and today the mantra is profitability,” he says.

Joke of the day!

Source & Full Article

[sukarsan]

Thanks to the emission crisis its going to be merc at the chequered flag at the end of 2015. Great comeback by Merc. They have spent a lot of efforts in reviving the sales for close to a decade now. I suppose the domination in F1 also helped to get the much needed sales boost.

[shivasuma]

Originally Posted by GTO

Says the guy who is currently offering 5 - 6 lakhs off on the 3-Series, up to 10 lakhs on the 5-Series and 25 - 30 lakhs on the outgoing 7-Series.



Joke of the day!

Source & Full Article

It's actually close to 11.5L off the 3 here in Bangalore which I think is an awesome deal!

[volkman10]

December 2015 sales figures, Mercedes Benz (1108) leads the way, followed by Audi (1021), BMW (668) and Volvo (155).

http://management-punditz.blogspot.in/