Mercedes Benz lines up launches first quarter 2011

Mercedes Benz lines up launches first quarter 2011 : Mercedes Benz India Ltd. (MBIL) is planning at least two launches in the second-half of this year, its director sales and marketing Debashis Mitra said.

He said that the luxury car market grew at 48 per cent during the first quarter of 2011 and the West and the South were showing the largest appetite for such cars. The three prominent players in this segment in India are Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.

Talking to this correspondent, he said that while two more launches have been lined up for the Indian market in the latter part of this year, he was not in a position to share the details at this stage for strategic reasons.

He said that the new Maybach was launched in January and the F 800, a concept car now, may be introduced to the consumer within a couple of years or so. “This car is the pinnacle of technology. It emits water vapour instead of noxious gases”.

Mr. Mitra was here on the occasion of the Mercedes-Benz Star Drive event which puts to test the key strengths and capabilities of Mercedes-Benz cars under the guidance of qualified experts. He said that the Star Drive event combines essential elements of driving experience with simulation of critical road situations.

Mercedes Benz India closed 2010 with sales of 5,800 cars against 3,500 cars in the previous year, marking an 80 per cent growth. “While it is not possible to sustain such growth levels which were due to a low-base year in 2009, we are hopeful of high growth rates in 2011, as the first quarter has been good”. Between January and March, Mercedes' retail sales stood at 1,800 units against 1,300 units in the same period in 2009.

Mr. Mitra said that Mercedes Benz's growth rates were higher than the growth rate of the luxury car market in India, which grew at 48 per cent during the first quarter. He, however, emphasised that at MBIL the stress was on technological superiority and innovation rather than chasing a target of numbers.

Mercedes-Benz has always been a pioneer in introducing new technologies globally as well as in India, he said adding that over the years the company has introduced several technologies aimed at enhancing passenger-safety. Many of these have created industry benchmarks.

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