Merc H1 sales spike 79%

Mercedes-Benz has registered a substantial spike in sales in the first half of this calendar year, with the German car maker selling 79 per cent more passenger vehicles between January to June 2010, compared to last year.

“As per end-June figures, we have sold 2402 units across India. Last year, we sold 1342 units during this period, and 3250 in the entire of 2009. We will continue with substantial double-digit growth,” Mercedes-Benz India managing director and CEO Wilfried Aulber said here today.

The Mercedes E-Class, the absence of which had affected the firm's overall domestic sales last year, has been the growth driver in 2010, registering a year-on-year increase of 137 per cent. “Last year, we had a couple of issues, including the E-class and dealerships,” Aulber admitted on the sidelines of the Kolkata launch of the new E-Class Coupe.

At the same time, the C-Class and M-Class have seen sales rise by 60 per cent and 23 per cent respectively in the first six months of the year, and the newly introduced Mercedes GL sports utility vehicle has sold about 40 units.

Aulber, however, did not wish to be drawn into making comparisons with rival German automobile major BMW, which had displaced Mercedes-Benz from the top slot of the domestic luxury car market earlier this year. “We are not in the number game. Our focus is on strong profitable growth,” he said.

But the Indian market, Aulber said, is growing faster than some European nations and holds promise for Mercedes Benz, which is now mulling bringing its smaller A and B Class vehicles into the country. “I do see potential for the A and B Class. The Indian market is maturing rapidly, but it needs to fit the seven-year development cycles of our cars,” he explained.