The Germany based luxury car maker Mercedes Benz is planning to launch an all new compact car brand – Smart – in the Indian auto market. It is likely that the new compact car brand of Mercedes will be coming-up in cooperation with its partners in the global market – Nissan-Renault in India. It is to be mentioned here that Mercedes is currently developing the next generation models of the Smart brand in partnership with Nissan-Renault.
A feasibility study regarding the acceptability of such compact car in India has already been done by the company in the Indian market, and both two and four door versions of the car (Smart Forfour and Smart Fortwo) the car will be seen in the upcoming movie ‘The Da Vinci Code’, in the country.
The new compact car brand Smart will be shelved in the price segment of Rs 12-15 lakh, where it will be creating a new segment of its own in the Indian car market. If the new Smart cars receive good acceptability in the country, it could well prove a major volume booster for the Mercedes Benz in India.
Mercedes Benz India is currently working aggressively to reclaim its erstwhile position of ‘top luxury car maker in India’, to which it had lost to BMW about two year back.
