The Indian economy has been going through a crisis in recent times as the value of Rupee has been falling with respect to Dollar. This economic fiasco has caused widespread prices rise for consumers and increase in cost inputs for producers. For example, car makers operating in India have been bogged down severely by this condition. Much against their wishes, car makers in India have been forced to increase prices of their models. Analysts have claimed that the price hike by firms is completely justified as they possibly cannot compromise on their profit levels. In the recent past, luxury car manufacturers BMW and Audi had announced a rise in prices of their entire line-ups. Now, fellow German company Mercedes-Benz has joined this bandwagon and declared that prices of its cars are going to increase from the next month.
In an official statement, the Daimler owned firm said that prices of its cars are going to increase by 10 per cent from January. According to sources, the German manufacturer did not specify as to why it was going for a hike. However, industry experts believe that there are some reasons, which clearly led to this decision. In the first place, considering tough market conditions, it really difficult for companies to sustain profit levels as the cost of inputs is rising consistently. This becomes even tougher when it comes to luxury car makers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi as they depend majorly on imports for components. Not only this, high-end products of these companies are brought to India through the Completely Built Unit (CBU) route, thereby drastically affecting the price.
Eberhard Kern, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz, spoke about this development. He was pretty delighted about the way the firm has performed in 2013 and said that it would be looking forward to repeat the same in future. “Mercedes-Benz stands out for its iconic luxury offerings and continues to be admired for its complete luxury product experience. A fantastic year of offensive focus has helped us achieve tremendous success in India despite challenging market conditions and we will continue to build on our success by further enhancing our after-sales programmes, dealer network and customer support. As market dynamics continue to evolve, we are committed to offer the best luxury experience and delight our valued customers,” he was quoted as saying.
The brand with the three-pointed star has made a terrific comeback in the Indian market in 2013. Answering critics in superb fashion, Mercedes-Benz has been hugely successful this year, launching a number of models, which have performed well. True to its 'Year of Offensive' approach, the German car maker has been pretty aggressive and tactful in devising strategies. Its most significant achievement has been the introduction of A-Class and B-Class models, which have performed exceptionally well. Other than these cars, Mercedes-Benz launched E-Class, GL-Class Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), SLK AMG 55 and E63 AMG.
