Mercedes-Benz retains lead in luxury car segment in India

Mercedes-Benz clocked more sales than any of its competitors in the luxury car segment in India so far in 2021, with the September quarter turning out to be one of its best quarters ever in the country.

The German brand sold 8,958 luxury cars in India between January and September 2021 — a 79 percent jump compared to the 5,007 cars it sold in the same period last year.

Further, the company saw its September quarter sales nearly double to 4,101 units compared to the same quarter of 2020. It claims that demand for models including the A-Class Limousine, GLA, E-Class, GLS, GLE and GLC was “very strong”.

The waiting period on its models, the company claims, now ranges between one to eight months depending on the markets.

Both growth and sales of Mercedes-Benz were higher than rival BMW, which announced sales rise of 45 percent at 6,027 units, including 447 units of the Mini brand, for the same nine months.

“We have already crossed our 2020 numbers in the first nine months this year. We have built a strong order bank for most of our new and existing products and are striving hard to handover these cars to customers on time. We expect the upcoming festive season to continue this sales momentum and create additional demand,” said Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India.

Mercedes clocked 7,893 units in 2020, posting a 43 percent decline compared to 2019; while BMW’s sales for 2020 stood at 6,604 units, down 32 percent compared to 2019 sales. Audi was among the worst performing brands with sales of just 1,693, a 63 percent drop compared to 2019.

The boom in demand for luxury cars in 2021 is driven by pent-up demand enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown situation of last year. Add to that, a number of new model launches this year is fuelling consumer interest. Mercedes-Benz for instance has launched 11 models so far in 2021 and BMW launched more than 15 products across its two brands.

Mercedes-Benz further claimed it would have clocked 20 percent more sales so far in 2021 had it not been for business disruptions such as the semiconductor shortage.

Notably though, while 2021 luxury car sales volume in India will surpass 2020 sales, it will still be lower than the 2019 volumes. The industry had seen sales of little over 35,200 units during 2019. But 2018 was the best year for the industry with sales of 40,340 units.

As per expectations, total industry volumes for luxury cars, by the end of 2021, is expected to be around 28,000-30,000 units which would be double compared to 2020.