Luxury brand Mercedes-Benz is betting on India being one of its top 10 markets by 2020.
The German carmaker is very optimistic on the Indian market, despite the obvious lull in the automobile industry in the last year. “We believe, the Indian market will double in size by 2020 to five million units, and that the premium segment will grow in a much bigger proportion. Perhaps by 2020, India will be one of the top 10 markets for Mercedes-Benz in India, said Ola Källenius, executive vice president, sales and marketing for Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz grew by 11 percent in 2013 and started 2014 with a whopping 15 percent growth in sales, in January. Although traditional saloons have been the backbone of sales for Mercedes-Benz all along, it’s the new family of compact cars, which includes the A- and B-class, the CLA saloon and the GLA SUV that has opened up the brand to a whole new segment of younger buyers. Mercedes-Benz has also been investing a lot in the AMG brand in India, and Källenius says he isn’t too concerned with the huge duties and weak rupee that have dramatically pushed up prices of imported cars. A firm believer in the German company’s brand AMG, Källenius said, “The high-end segment is still in its infancy in India and is growing. It is profitable and we can be financially successful with AMG in India in the future.”
Källenius said, the company’s focus in India would also be to bring a full assortment of SUVs as they work well with both established and emerging markets.
Mercedes-Benz has upped its capacity at its Pune plant to 20,000 units and the company is set for more growth for the next 3-4 years, he added.