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Six years after losing the numero uno position to rival BMW German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has dethroned reigning champion Audi to regain the top spot in India.
Mercedes-Benz clocked 3,566 units in the first quarter of this year (January-March) while Audi sold 3,181 units in the same period last year. Both the German luxury companies have been battling for the top spot since the last many months.
While Audi launched three models last year Mercedes bettered it launching 10 models during the same year. Audi was able to keep the lead in 2014 while Mercedes came in second. BMW closed the year finishing third while Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover came in last.
Mercedes-Benz increased its sales by 40% in the first quarter of this year as against sales of 2554 units clocked in the same quarter last year. Audi marked a 16% growth in the reporting quarter as compared to 2,740 units sold in the same quarter last year.
The new generation C-Class, which was launched in its diesel version in February, clocked the best ever sales in March, since its India debut for Mercedes. The high preference for the new C-Class sedan was closely matched by the E-Class sedan, which contributed significantly to the volumes in Q1 2015, and currently remains the highest sold luxury sedan in India, Mercedes-Benz noted.
As for the financial year ending March 31, 2015 Audi remained the leader in the luxury car segment with sales of 11,292 units, a growth of 12% when compared to 10,126 units sold in 2013-14. Mercedes sold 11,213 units last year with a growth of 18% compared to sales of 2013-14.
Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said, "Our growth in the first quarter is significant as we had some of our key models under waitlist depending on various markets. The waitlisted models include the S-Class, the ML-Class, the GL-Class and the newly launched CLA-Class. It is our endeavour to cater to this increased demand and reduce the waiting period for these models. The robust 40% growth along with other multiple sales records achieved in the first quarter of 2015, is a clear indication of our commitment to a strong customer focus."
After several years of unchallenged leadership Mercedes lost to BMW in 2009 when the latter began to aggressively push its products into the market. BMW retained leadership for four years till end of 2012. BMW did try to push its compact models namely 1 Series and X1 into the market without much success.
Thereafter Audi took over the top position and retained it for two consecutive years (2013 and 2014). But Mercedes, on the back of launching compact models and refreshes to its other best sellers, followed it and replaced BMW to the second spot during the last two years.
The fight to finish will be even more aggressive this year when Mercedes-Benz has promised to launch 15 models (new models and refreshes) while Audi is slated to drive in 10 models. Mercedes is confident of finishing the year at the top spot as it ramps up production capacity with investments of Rs 1000 crore.
