[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by Mpower

• Putting the revered merc logo on trucks and buses, what happens to luxury image?

Hey, Merc is well known for their heavy vehicles in the West.

They had their first tie-up in India with Tatas for trucks for trucks. I recall long nosed trucks with the three star logos, and old timers in the trucking industry used to refer to Tata trucks as "benz" vehicles.

• How do you justify premium pricing in bus sector where snob value doesnt mean much.

Good question though. Especially because the bodies are built in India, the same way it is in the West (chassis by well known manufacturers, bodies by lesser known entities).

I recall reading an article about Daimler Benz AG, the German Car maker. The article proclaimed that reliability of their cars is confirmed by use as cabs in several countries. (Hint!!!)

[Volt]

Originally Posted by raul

Why do we see so little leadership from the leaders in auto sector in alternative technologies,

I would definitely ask this one. What happened to their bio-diesel initiative? Why not introduce the NGT option here? (many 5 star hotels would jump at the prospect of a CNG Merc).

And yes, the question many have been asking, when is the A-Class coming?

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by raul

With the growing social pressure in western countries against these huge powerful engines and their petrol consumption and unpredictable petrol prices what is the future for companies like Mercedes?....

Here is one way Mercedes have addressed that issue :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intern...ed-2010-a.html

cya
R

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

[/list]Hey, Merc is well known for their heavy vehicles in the West.

They had their first tie-up in India with Tatas for trucks for trucks. I recall long nosed trucks with the three star logos, and old timers in the trucking industry used to refer to Tata trucks as "benz" vehicles

Sure, Europeans are mature customers and they dont necessarily buy these cars for prestige value. I've seen Audi A6s in Germany with steel wheels and roll up windows in the back.

In India, its mostly about the snob value. USA is also similar and Merc doesn't sell trucks, buses under the Merc name but Serta, Freightliner etc.

[Parm]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Sure, Europeans are mature customers and they dont necessarily buy these cars for prestige value. I've seen Audi A6s in Germany with steel wheels and roll up windows in the back.

In India, its mostly about the snob value. USA is also similar and Merc doesn't sell trucks, buses under the Merc name but Serta, Freightliner etc.

europeans are mature customers thats why they buy the best in the world, the german cars!

i have seen mercedes as taxis in europe as well as in middle east. better taxis in europe and battered taxis in egypt/jordan/syria etc.

in usa merc doesnt sell trucks, but american trucks dont sell outside america.

its the americans who have snob value and some body else! remember the days when anyone owning a import was treated an un-patriotic in usa?

merc is all over europe,asia,africa, so is scania, iveco, man...i didnt see any of the american trucks in these places!

german cars are known for their engineering and long lasting product value.

there is an unwritten rule on autobahns:

1. Porsche
2. Mercedes Benz
3. BMW
4. Audi
5. VW

by the way, my question to the CEO of MB india will be "when do get to see striped down versions of C and E in india?

[redeff]

Stripped down version of the C? You must be kidding , it's already out. Have you seen the C 200k? or the C220CDI for that matter? Partially powered drivers seat, non special looking interiors, No Xenons , Three knobs ( one on dashboard, one representing the I drive and controls on steering wheel) for the entertainment system that contains not even a quarter of the functions of the I drive or the MMI coupled to a non stellar screen. And yes, no Auto retract from the OVRMs. How much more stripped down will they get?


Besides the E class also has a base version sporting the CDI that does duty on the C.

[kvish]

Mercedes benz A class for 8Lakhs. Myth or reality?

[FlyingSpur]

"Is it really that difficult to get electronics to last long?"

[Vid6639]

Why do your cars have absolutely no features when compared to competition and when will you launch the maintenance plan for your cars?

Why is left hand side ORVM on your new C class and few other models not convex and flat offering zero visibility range?

Originally Posted by diabloo

Why don't you enter compact car segment in India?

They will never do that. They don't stand a chance against the ANHC. Mercedes is not as well known as a Honda.

[revhappy]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Mercedes is not as well known as a Honda.

I dont agree, even 5 year olds would have heard of mercedes brand.
BTW mercs have had a presence in India since ages and its a symbol of luxury and 1st thing that comes to mind when you talk of luxury cars in the Pre - 1995 era before the economy was opened for FDI. Honda was a little known brand then and even now in comparison to merc or bmw, honda is very pale

Cheers,
Nitin

[Vid6639]

Nitin, kindly note the smiley at the end of the sentence. lol.

[revhappy]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Nitin, kindly note the smiley at the end of the sentence. lol.

Oh Ok Sorry about that. Dumb me.

[mayjay]

What I'd like to know is, what is really going on with the prices? I mean car makers can't be so dumb as to charge super premium margins and have almost no sales to show, can they? What is the deal with that - India is supposed to have cheap labor, where does it ever show up?

We all know about skimming the market, but are these low volumes going to sustain the company in the long run? For now competition is from ohter overpriced german marques offering more exciting products at similar prices. they all probably have a gentleman's agreement not to cut prices. lets see if it changes going forward, when one of them gets desperate, or they see some real competition.

[mtnrajdeep]

Originally Posted by pulsar56

Was it a SAP HR implementation? or other module. It is common to implement even for 30 people in a country (I have worked on such a project) if it is a high-margin company like Merc.

It included HR, FIN, Projects. Dont really remember the other details but it was overkill. They always say that they are going to scale up to 1000 people, but that's a story that I have been hearing since 2005!

[GTO]

Iraghava, answers to these questions would be great:

1. BMW India overtook Mercedes India - for the first time ever - in sales (January 2008). Considering that you have had a 10 year lead, how do you plan to react to this change of market leadership?

2. Not too many have a problem with buying a Mercedes; the real deterrent is the massive cost of ownership. While your competition has launched 5 year comprehensive maintenance packages, why has Mercedes been dragging its feet? When are the 5 year packages coming? Or are your cars too much of white elephants for you to cover?

3. Why are your premum priced cars SO MUCH more problematic than most 15 - 20 lakh options? How does Mercedes intend to improve the reliability of its products?

4. An E-Class cost 22 lakhs in '96; a new E-Class cost 45 lakhs in '06. Is there an upper limit to overpricing? Is this a trend that points toward a Rs. 1 crore E-Class in 2016?

P.S. : Will send you the stats you asked for tommorow.