Mercedes Benz is the first of the
three German luxury car companies to come to India. Mercedes Benz entered India
in 1996 and transformed the luxury car segment which was still in infancy. Then
followed BMW and Audi but the irony is, Mercedes Benz has been pushed to 3rd
spot, thanks to the new launches from BMW and Audi, mainly of their small SUVs.
In order to regain the lost
ground, Mercedes recently launched B Class which is just over Rs. 20 lakh and
now is planning to launch cars costing less than Rs. 20 lakh. Mercedes A Class
is the smallest car in the Mercedes stable and hence is the vehicle which will
be launched under Rs. 20 lakh in India.
Mercedes plans to invest Rs. 250
Cr. in India as its strategic investment till 2014. The company intends to have
40% of its vehicles to be under Rs. 25 lakh, which means, the A and B Class
will be the focus model for the Mercedes in the near future.
Mercedes also plans to develop
mini SUVs on the A and B Class platform to avail versatility to its customers.
If priced well in India, the A Class might be a new segment maker and turn the
fortune of Mercedes Benz.
