According to a statement released by Mercedes-Benz India, a 2% price increase would come into effect from January 1, 2016 for all Mercedes-Benz vehicles in India. The company is reportedly appreciating the prices due to the increased input costs.
Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said that the company was compelled to raise the prices as the input costs were burgeoning. The move was also aimed at providing the Mercedes-Benz clients’ security for their investment in the brand and to maintain the company’s brand positioning. The price increase will also help in sustaining the profitability of the company.
Customer Benefits
Even after the rise in prices, Mercedes-Benz was still providing the benefit of financial schemes including STAR Finance, STAR Agility, STAR Lease or Corporate STAR Lease.
These schemes were aimed at providing customers the ease of driving home a Mercedes-Benz car. There were some other programs offered by the company that includes STAR Ease, STAR Care, STAR Care Plus, and on-road assistance and these offer the buyers with the best services after the purchase of the car.
Mercedes-Benz’s product portfolio consists of 24 models in the country with the A-class starting from Rs. 27.5 lakh (ex-showroom price, Delhi ) going up to the S63 AMG coupe that is priced at Rs. 2.7 crores (ex-showroom price, Delhi ).
Out of the total twenty-four models, 14 were unleashed in India in 2015. The January to September sales of the company was 10,079 units in the country, which is 34% higher than what was registered in the same time frame in 2014.
As per the projections of sales, the company is looking to achieve a sale of more than 14,000 units by the end of 2015.
Localization Efforts In India
Folger said that the company has been doing everything that could help in providing a value proposition to the Indian customers and localization efforts were also aimed in this direction.
The company expanding its operations in India in 1994 and an investment of more than Rs. 1,000 crore was made for the Pune plant that has an annual production of 20,000 units. This plant has the largest installed capacity for production of luxury cars in the country.
