[Aditya]

Mercedes-Benz India has sold 13,502 cars in the January - December 2015 period. With this, the company has recorded its highest-ever sales in a calendar year.



Mercedes-Benz India sold 10,201 cars from January - December 2014. The company surpassed that number by 3,301 units in 2015, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 32%. This is the third straight year of growth that the company has recorded in India. In 2014 and 2013 it had recorded a growth of 13% and 26% respectively.

From January - December 2015, the sales of the company's sedans (CLA-Class, C-Class, E-Class and the S-Class) grew by 42%, while the sales of its SUVs (GLA-Class, GLE-Class and GL-Class) grew by 100%. The sales of the Mercedes-AMG and Dream Cars portfolio grew by 54%.

The C-Class has recorded a growth of 90%, becoming the best-selling Mercedes-Benz model in the country, replacing the E-Class. In 2015, Mercedes-Benz India doubled the capacity of its production facility and added 3 new products to its locally produced portfolio - the GLA-Class, CLA-Class and the Mercedes-Maybach S 500. The company increased the cumulative investment in its production facility to Rs. 1,000 crores.

In 2015, Mercedes-Benz Certified - the company's pre-owned car brand, recorded a growth of 109% and trade-ins grew by 122%. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS) has also seen a growth of 65% in customer acquisitions during the year. According to the company, every third Mercedes-Benz was sold with the support of MBFS finance offers, while every second Mercedes-Benz sold was with Mercedes-Benz insurance.

In 2016, Mercedes-Benz plans to introduced 12 new products and open 10 new outlets in India.

[kvsingh13]

Mercedes has been doing good in India. With providing more cars in their portfolio and a better A.S.S. and resale value, mercedes is on a growing path in India. Can't forget the amazing looking cars they brought in this year.

[GTO]

That's some growth! 5 years back, in 2010, Mercedes sold merely 5,819 cars.

Originally Posted by kvsingh13

Can't forget the amazing looking cars they brought in this year.

Bingo! Their cars were always luxurious & drove well; it's the stylish new designs that Mercedes has gotten absolutely spot on. That, and the expansion into new segments. Compared to 2010, they now have the A-Class, CLA, GLA etc.

Mercedes scores the strongest in terms of desirability. I don't know of anyone who's not been blown away after sitting in the new C-Class & S-Class. Their bread & butter car - the E-Class - should be seeing an all-new generation soon.

Good times. Just hope Mercedes has improved its reliability.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

Good times. Just hope Mercedes has improved its reliability.

Although we see niggles in the new S CLass (perils of new technology), the Mercs made in the past 5 years have been fairly reliable. Only issue is the air suspension - you need to treat that as a consumable item!

[dhruvhersh]

2015 was one of the best years for Mercedes-Benz as a brand, not just in India but globally.

The new C-Class won many 'Car of the Year' awards across multiple countries, and the sales volumes speak for itself. Kudos.
Plus the new variants, CLA & GLA added more reach to the average customer to buy a car with a star.

The A-Class face-lift didn't change much from the previous version, but I guess you don't need to change things when they're going brilliantly for you.

Competition will be fierce this year when Audi launches 2 new products in A1 and A4 to compete against A-Class and C-Class respectively.
Not sure what trick does BMW has up it's sleeve.

[Karthik Chandra]

Kudos to Mercedes Benz ; this is an outstanding feat by a luxury car maker.
MB has been in the news more than some of the mass market manufacturers, as a result MB has had a better brand recall than say Chevy, Nissan & Skoda.

Snapshot of milestones


Note: Jan'16 is hidden under watermark - CLA makes India debut; Records 13% growth in 2014
Source: http://www.mercedes-benz.co.in/

The average age of a Merc owner has gone down significantly and this is one of the key factor in achieving this volumes. Because of the radical change in design language, more younger population are now preferring the 3 pointed star. Any idea what the avg age now is?

Luxury manufacturers have a better portfolio covering a wide price band than some mass market manufacturers.

With 12 new products lined up for 2016, Audi and BMW have their tasks cut out.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by dhruvhersh

Not sure what trick does BMW has up it's sleeve.

BMW under the leadership of Philipp von Sahr is doing a very poor job. He simply doesn't have the aggression or push of previous bossman, Andreas Schaaf. BMW isn't able to sell the 3-Series, despite a competent product & heavy discounting. Incredibly shoddy performance.

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

The average age of a Merc owner has gone down significantly and this is one of the key factor in achieving this volumes.

A recent article stated that the average age of the luxury car buyer in India is in the high 30s (38 - 39). That compares favourably to the average age of high 40s only a decade ago.

[dhruvhersh]

Originally Posted by GTO

BMW under the leadership of Philipp von Sahr is doing a very poor job. He simply doesn't have the aggression or push of previous bossman, Andreas Schaaf. BMW isn't able to sell the 3-Series, despite a competent product & heavy discounting. Incredibly shoddy performance.

Was reading about Andreas Schaaf, he was a star performer since he joined BMW in '96 and recently moved to Cadillac. I guess Mr. von Sahr has big boots to fill, and so far hasn't done much to convince he will. Apart from launching the 360 degree program in 2015, it was a quiet year from the Munich giant.

Now regarding the below par sales performance of BMW, I think they are lacking a good product spectrum, and especially at the lower end*.

Mercedes has carefully placed the A/CLA in sub 40L territory to make it more accessible to young buyers (and the lower average age of customers YoY shows here). BMW on the other hand has only the 1 series to offer in this segment and it falls way below in terms of appeal compared to the A/CLA or an A3 for that matter, despite being a slightly better driver's car compared to the other two.

Audi (or VAG rather) puts up decent sales figures with their SUV line Q3/Q5/Q7 while it doesn't do bad at the lower end, with A3. Not to forget Superb/Octavia/Passat rake in good numbers every month as well.

So BMW have got a lot on their plate for this year, let's see if they have the stomach for it.

*BHPians, please excuse if I made some naive points. Just beginning my journey here.

[Rajeevraj]

Audi sells 11192 vehicles in 2015. 8th successive year of growth.

The luxury car manufacturer from Germany is marching ahead with growth and has recorded a huge delivery count for their customers in India. Audi has accomplished 11192 vehicle deliveries in 2015 and feat marks the company’s 8th successive year of consistent growth. Even though Audi lost their leadership to Mercedes-Benz in the race, still the carmaker is motivated with their growth. Audi launched 10 products for the Indian market in 2015.

interesting to see that these Luxury biggies are not too far behind Datsun/Nissan/Skoda for 2015 and are even ahead of Fiat.

Source: Motoroids

[GTO]

A nice article on how Mercedes got its mojo back.

AutoNews.com

Yet just when it looked as though even the heavens were against Daimler, the storm clouds over the Airbus factory passed -- just as they have for Zetsche. Since then, sales and profits at the group's car business, which includes Smart, have steadily been on the rise.

Asked when management knew the company's growth plan would work, a former Mercedes board member said it all started with the S-class launch: "That was the turning point for Mercedes."

Today, Zetsche has Mercedes poised to overtake BMW and reclaim the title of world's top-selling premium brand, achieving his target four years ahead of schedule and spoiling the centennial celebration of its archrival in Munich in the process.

In September, Mercedes reported global sales of more than 200,000 vehicles, setting a new all-time high for the month while also breaking its own sales records for a quarter and for the first nine months of a year. Thanks to strong demand for new models such as the E class, third-quarter operating earnings at Daimler's car business surged 26 percent to a record 2.7 billion euros ($2.98 billion).