To counter the slow growth rate prevailing in the Indian car market, Mercedes-Benz is gearing up to launch its B-Class Sports Tourer (ST) here towards the end of September or the beginning of October, 2012. The launch is a part of the German car maker's new product and marketing strategy in the country.
Director, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, Debashis Mitra, said, “There are two ways to gain market share and volume in a slowing business environment. One is to cut price or introduce lower-priced, stripped down variants. The other is to look for new products, consumers and terrains. We are focusing on the latter.”
Apart from the B-class and A-Class models, the car manufacturer will also launch its GLC compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in 2014 to square off against its compatriots, BMW X1 and Audi Q3. It will also introduce the GLK compact crossover model to compete head one with the BMW X5 in India. Mitra said, “These models form part of our new-generation compact series and will help us complete our product portfolio in India. We will not do hara-kiri for numbers. Price war or selling cheaper variants have never been our strategy and we will not do it.”
Besides launching the B-Class ST, which it claims to be a segment creator model owing to the absence of a Sports Tourer in India, the car maker is also keenly scrutinising the new terrain and studying the customer perspective. According to Mitra, the new leasing format of the brand will attract more customers and the agenda has been reinforced by extensive marketing in malls and airport lounges. This enhanced brand presence will surely create large numbers of both potential buyers as well as aspiring Mercedes owners.
As a part of its strategy to boost sales volumes, the German brand is focussing more on the tier-II and tier-III cities. The company has been busy expanding its dealership network in the cities of Bhubaneswar, Karnal, Nashik, Indore and Raipur in the last 6-8 months. The sole reason behind the company's focus on these cities is that they tend to be less affected by the slowdown in market as compared to the metros. Besides expanding its dealership, the company is also extending its presence in cities like Jabalpur, Vellore, Vilaspur, Nellore and Kota through its 'Star Showcase' event, which had top performers from car maker's line-up on display. Buoyed by the response received from these locations, Mercedes-Benz is expecting additional sales of 8-10 units from each of these markets. Considering the heavy price tag of Rs. 25 lacs, even a surge of 8-10 units itself is a big score, in the 25,000 units strong Indian luxury car market.
Mitra said, “Even in a slowing market, new products can excite the customer. For example, when we launched the new M-Class in May, it was nearly 50% higher priced than the old at Rs. 66 lacs. Yet in June, we sold 175 units compared to 50 units each in March and April. Similarly, the AMG version of the C-Class at Rs. 35 lacs is pricier but has pushed up the brand image.”
