German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz is planning to introduce its new small car, Mercedes A Class in the Indian market. Mercedes intends to position the car as its entry level model in India and price it at around Rs. 16-20 lakh. There are enough buyers in this price bracket and Mercedes will be exploring the market for people switching to luxury brand and a small car for the Indian roads.
Mercedes has been having its doubts since long time about introducing this car in India but as its sales show robust growth it is now more optimistic about the model holding ground amongst Indian car buyers. “In 2010, our segment grew 80%, but Mercedes Benz has grown 157% and this is without the GL launch,” said Mercedes Benz India managing director and CEO, Wilfried Aulbur. The car’s launch has been delayed for nearly a decade now which holds true for BMW MINI as well where BMW has deferred launching its model in the country.
Mercedes has been facing tough times on the home grounds as well. However, it feels that the market will recover in Europe soon. It had to buy back cars from the dealers in order to give them more liquidity as well as facilitate bridge finance to them.
