Mercedes Plans Small Town Entry

The year 2010 has been fantastic for Mercedes-Benz, with the company recording highest ever sales month after month. Now the German manufacturer plans to aggressively target Tier II and III towns across the country as well as Indian corporates to ensure it stays on top in the luxury car segment. As a part of its focus on smaller towns, Mercedes will open dealerships in Jaipur, Indore, Bhubaneshwar, having opened dealerships in Surat and Goa recently. Mercedes India plans to get the GLK (a smaller SUV like the BMW X3) in our country but doesn’t have right hand drive models of the same.

“There is pressure building in top Indian companies like Infosys, TCS, etc, for a change in their car policies. When senior executives of these companies go abroad, they routinely use luxury cars but not in India. For us, the two major drivers for sales in India in the future are this mindset change among Indian companies and demand from Tier II and III towns,” Wilfried Aulbur, managing director, Mercedes Benz India, said. He added, “We expect 15-30% of our total sales to come from upcountry (Tier II and III) cities. Among the states, with strong demand from smaller towns and cities are Gujarat and Kerala. We will target the mining states later.”