Share of top-end cars in Mercedes' India sales nearly 2x in 5 years

One in four cars sold by Mercedes in India in H1 2023 is priced above Rs 1.5 cr

As Mercedes-Benz India focuses on top-end vehicles (TEVs), or those priced above Rs 1.5 crore each, the share of this segment in the firm’s overall sales has jumped to 25 per cent from 12 per cent in 2018, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The company’s TEV sales surged 54 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 2,000 units in the first six months of 2023, with one in four Mercedes cars sold in India being a TEV. The segment contributed around Rs 3,000 crore to the top line of Mercedes-Benz India, it said.

Overall, Mercedes-Benz India clocked its best-ever H1 sales in January-June 2023, selling 8,528 units, up 13 per cent from the year-ago period.

 

Santosh Iyer, managing director and chief executive officer, Mercedes-Benz India, told Business Standard over phone that the company launched several top-end luxury vehicles like the GLS, S Class, S-Class Maybach, GLS Maybach, the AMGs, and the EQS in recent years, growing its TEV segment.

“Top-end vehicles have transitioned the quality and structure of the luxury segment, despite increasing vehicle prices. Demand for these vehicles remains strong,” he said. “The growth of the TEV segment also underscores the changing preference and maturity of the Indian luxury car buyer, especially at the top end. Our TEV strategy has been highly successful in creating desire for the brand.” 

The focus on TEVs has also resulted in the average selling price going up for the German luxury carmaker.

Mercedes-Benz India has around 10 TEVs in its portfolio of 22 cars, and they are priced between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 5.5 crore.

Iyer said the company had an order book of 3,500 cars now, and TEVs constituted a major part of it. “We launched new TEVs during the first half of this year – the E53 Cabriolet, the SL 55 AMG, etc. Due to high demand for TEVs and the wait period, we got more allotment from our parent company. Thereby, we have been able to deliver more cars. New launches and higher allocations helped us get 54 per cent growth,” he added. 

Iyer expects the good run for TEVs to continue in the second half of the year as well. “Growth in TEVs will be in high double digits. We still have [a waiting period of] six to 24 months in many of our TEV cars. For the GLS and S-class, we have brought it down from 1 year waiting to 6 months. For the GL63 AMG, the wait period is still 24 months,” he said.

Sales of Mercedes’ battery electric vehicles (BEVs) grew tenfold in the first six months. While the company did not disclose the exact numbers, it said strong customer response to its two BEVs – the EQS and the EQB – had led to this growth.

Iyer said that while the EQS (Rs 1.6 crore) was priced higher than the EQB (Rs 80 lakh), Mercedes chose to localise the EQS. “Had we focused on volumes alone, then we would have localised the production of the EQB. But we are focusing on the top-end segment for our electric play as well,” he said.

Mercedes is eyeing 25 per cent of sales in India from EVs in the next three to four years. Iyer said that with Mercedes having only two models at present, consumers did not have options, and some had to go for combustion engines.

“The comparable car for the EQB is the GLB (in the internal combustion engine category). Here almost 80 per cent of customers are opting for an electric vehicle or the EQB. As we introduce more BEVs, the share of electric vehicles in our overall sales will go up,” he said.

IN the fast lane 

• AMG E53, AMG GT 63 E-Performance, G400d and SL55 AMG: Top-end vehicles (TEVs) launched by Mercedes Benz India in 2023
• Rs. 1.5-5.5 cr: Price of Merc’s TEVs 
• Its TEV sales grew 54% in first half of 2023