“More the luxury, more successful we are,” says Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, asserting that its high-end performance cars bring in more business than the less luxurious models.
Mercedes Benz’s automobiles span a wide price spectrum from about ₹26 lakh to over ₹ 2 crore. The idea is to bring under its fold a broad spectrum of the market. The entry-level offerings account for about one-third of its business, while the upper end products bring in two-thirds, he said.
Interacting with media persons at the inauguration of VST Titanium Motors’ Mercedes Benz showrooms and service centre in Chennai, he said Benz offers classical sedans, SUVs, luxury compact and performance cars to cater to a wide segment. This contributes to making it the fastest growing brand in the luxury car business three years in a row.
In the first half of the current year, it sold 6,600 cars, a 40 per cent growth over sales in the first half of 2014.
Mercedes-Benz has 78 outlets in India and two more are opening in Kozhikode tomorrow. This is the “widest and densest network” among any luxury car brand, he said.
Arun Surendra, MD, VST Titanium Motors, said the company has opened two showrooms today – one in the heart of Chennai and the other in the southern suburbs – and a service centre with 27 bays and a capacity to handle 6,000 cars a year. The total investment is over ₹45 crore, he said.