German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz Friday reported a 18.6 per cent decline in sales in India at 6,561 units in the first half of 2019.
The company had sold 8,061 units in January-June period last year, Mercedes-Benz India said in a statement.
Strong macro-economic challenges that comprised rising interest rates, inflationary hikes, liquidity crunch, rising import costs, all led to muted customer interest, it said.
"We are glad to maintain the leadership position in the luxury car market by sustaining our sales performance despite facing continuous macro-economic headwinds and a temporary limited availability of volume models," Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Martin Schwenk said,
He said the company expects sales to recover gradually from the third quarter, although conditions would continue to remain challenging.
The volume drivers for Mercedes-Benz India during the January-June 2019 period remained the Long Wheelbase E-Class as it continues its success run with the Indian customers, the statement said.
The new C-Class and the GLC SUV also contributed to the sales volume, while the AMG and Dream Cars segment grew the highest by 47 per cent and outperformed other segments in January-June 2019, it said.
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