[suyamkale]

I have observed that luxury car manufacturers do not offer a wide range of OEM wheel options for their cars sold in India. I came across this when I was visiting a Mercedes-Benz website to look at the specifications of a GLE but I did not realise that I was using a VPN with a USA proxy.

It gave me the "Build" option for the car and out of curiosity I clicked on it. There were 5-6 OEM wheel options in various sizes. For eg. the default one was a 19 inch alloy but it had different designs upto 22 inches which I quite liked. It also had a plethora of other customizable bits like different interiors, exterior trims, technology packages and so on.

But when I switched to the India website, there were no options for anything. The only thing customizable in the "Build" option of the India website was the colour of the vehicle. I was quite disappointed.

I checked other manufacturers like BMW, Range Rover, Audi and this was the case on all of these websites. I want to know if this is only a website thing and there are options available when you visit the showroom, or that India doesn't deserve customized luxury cars ?

[Simha.k]

One word : Warranty.

OEMs consider India as "bad road country". Bigger the wheels, higher the chances of damage. They don't want customers come crying to their service shops with broken rims and damaged tyres. Also, considering the high profile of these customers, they'll tend to escalate customer complaints to the management. With the state of roads in India, you know how those wheels will be broken to pieces in a matter of weeks.

[anandhsub]

Guess it is a combination of the taxes on CBUs which makes them go for local assembly and the low sales which means it doesn't make as much sense to give as many options. Even in the luxury segment and even if just assembly I guess they need some amount of economies of scale.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by suyamkale

But when I switched to the India website, there were no options for anything. The only thing customizable in the "Build" option of the India website was the colour of the vehicle. I was quite disappointed.

I checked other manufacturers like BMW, Range Rover, Audi and this was the case on all of these websites. I want to know if this is only a website thing and there are options available when you visit the showroom, or that India doesn't deserve customized luxury cars ?

It began with low sales base. Whatever imported was lapped up and they could dump the highest specced variant or left over stock to India.

Second problem is the 'big market' syndrome. Local assembly and higher volumes means they will sell what is the popular version.

Guess it is Porsche which is the cheapest manufacturer offering customisation, since all their offerings are CBUs. Lexus also used to offer multiple options, not sure if it is available post local assembly.

Just yesterday saw a video about a weirdly specced (for lay person, wonderful for most enthusiasts) BMW M5 in USA. Had rear seat entertainment, but manual transmission. Had the most expensive sound system option, but no leather/soft touch dashboard. Had no driver assist system, but had full optioned seats. Had no 360° camera, but had most high profile tyres with smaller alloy wheels.