Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Mercedes Benz’s investment plans: The German-automaker Mercedes Benz will invest $24 million in India in 2024 and launch new cars, including electric vehicles (EVs), prioritising costlier models that have witnessed strong demand from the country’s young, and affluent demographic, said Santosh Iyer, Managing Director of Mercedes Benz’s India operations.
More than half of Mercedes’ new launches in the world’s third-largest car market will be top-end vehicles, said Iyer.
The German luxury carmaker defines top-end vehicles as those priced over $180,000.
“There is an evolving customer profile, the demographics are changing today. There is a lot of aspiration from the young achievers to straight away get into the top end segment of luxury,” he said.
Mercedes India sales
Usually, the target customer base for Mercedes buyers in India are business owners, although the number of purchasers who are salaried professionals have climbed by a fifth since pre-COVID times to account for 12 per cent to 14 per cent of buyers, he added, while further stating that the average customer age is 38.
Mercedes sold a record 17,408 cars in India in 2023, a 10 per cent increase over 2022 on strong demand for its top-end cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).
Iyer mentioned that “mini metro” cities are “future growth engines” and the company plans to open new service workshops in some of these places such as Udaipur, Amritsar and Agra.
Mercedes launched its GLS 450 SUV in India on Monday, with the gasoline version priced from around $160,000.
In 2024, the auto-major will launch three new electric models. The EV segment currently makes up 4 per cent of Mercedes’s sales in the country.
The $24 million to be invested by Mercedes is earmarked for manufacturing operations in Pune and in launching new products.
