[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by smalhotra_93

BMW , in such a short time , has lost its presence and is making rubbish car ( my opinion ) . A merc has more '' Taur " than a BMW .

I sure hope you're planning on clarifying your point, if a valid one.

[Snowman79]

hmm.. seeing as most of the sales would be for entry level cars in this range - so basically u have a choice between the c and the 3. and the c loses in more ways than one.

3 series back seat is much more comfortable
3 is much cheaper
c has this old staid image. the rich nowadays are young guns. they dont wanna be seen in an "old persons" car

[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by Snowman79

3 series back seat is much more comfortable.

True, but the runflats compromise the ride quality, nullifying that.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Snowman79

hmm.. seeing as most of the sales would be for entry level cars in this range - so basically u have a choice between the c and the 3....

The reality is a little different than what you'd expect.

I suggest you take a look at the sales figures : Link
(Average of a full year would probably work better)

cya
R

[vb-saan]

I guess the BSI is a big reason (other than churning out fantastic models) for BMW's success in India. They do take their customers much more seriously than the Merc. counterpart. On the other hand, Mercedes go with the notion that Name always sells!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by karpusv

No offense, but in a recent Autocar show on TV when someone asked Hormazd which was the best SUV under 30 lakhs, he said the CR-V

I guess he was quite right to say that. If I remember right, the question was about the best possible SUV in 25-35L price range

[mxx]

There was an interview in TOI/ET with merc india head of ops, Asia.
BMW overtook us in transition phase: Daimler-Interviews-Opinion-The Economic Times

BTW, everyone seems to be declaring a winner already when the battle has just begun. Audi is catching up very fast, and merc might not sit and watch its market share going down. Lets see wat happens.

[GTO]

BMW's PR machinery at full rpms.

Think about it : What better way to build your image to the Glitterati (page 3 types) than to have your car splashed all over their daily drug (i.e. Bombay Times). This is yesterday's Bombay Times. BMW 5 series VIP launch on the 1st page, while the 3rd page had details on the "whos who" attending the event.

Job well done, I'd say.

Link to E-Paper

[Latheesh]

Bangalore edition have Linea with Miss. India winners. It also had a brief description about the car, nice idea!!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Bangalore edition have Linea with Miss. India winners. It also had a brief description about the car, nice idea!!

Fiat wont miss an opportunity! The Thursday edition of Bombay Times (right after BMW's spread) had the Linea on the front page.

[GTO]

An excerpt from Merc's latest press release. This is the FIRST time I have seen Mercedes refer to BMW directly in their official communication.

We also wanted to update you that at a Retail sales level (cars actually invoiced by Dealers to Customers). Here Mercedes-Benz has notched-up 2449 units for Jan-Jun 2010 (424 units in June 2010). In the same period of Jan - June 2010 BMW sold 2183 units (207 units in June 2010).

[RakishRam]

Here it is again getting direct and bit nasty also, nevertheless good for us customers

Source : HT

We do not believe in discounts or de-contenting like some of our competitors,” said Wilfried Aulbur, MD and CEO, Mercedes Benz India. “We make aspirational products and every customer has some minimum expectations from a Merc. De-contenting will be a shame.”

BMW simply scoffed at the remarks. “Our brand remains as aspirational as ever but we are only making it accessible to a lot more people,” Schaaf said. “Whatever the competitor may say, we have done in all Asian markets with remarkable results. That is not to say they have not done something similar with their C class.”

[f1fan]

The war is getting hotter.
I strongly believe Merc should come out with a similar package like the BMW BSI one.
This would help put the gremlins to rest for folks who had the earlier problematic C series as they would surely think twice (or more) before going in for any other merc.

[moralfibre]

I had been wanting to catch regular changes to advertisements at the end of Kalyani Nagar bridge - Pune. Prime location for drawing attention of prospective Merc and BMW customers. Here's one that I finally managed to click:

[Rohit Tripathi]

I think one of the main reasons BMW is outselling Merc is because the average age of buyers in India has reduced. The wealth distrbution is slightly different now compared to late 90s & will continue to change as our economy grows stronger & more & more Indians become world travellers.