“We won’t get into a price war”: Mercedes Benz India MD and CEO

Mercedes-Benz India has closed 2025 with sales of 19,007 units, which is a 2.85 percent decline from the previous year. However, the company says it has posted its best-ever year in terms of revenue, thanks to an aggressive focus on its top-end models. 

1. Mercedes’s top-end vehicles made up 25 percent of total sales
2. Entry-level cars accounted for just 13 percent of the brand’s sales  

BMW leader in entry-level luxury car sales 

In contrast, BMW India grew 14 percent in 2025 to record its best-ever sales of 18,001 units on the back of a broader entry-level portfolio, closing the gap with Mercedes-Benz India, which managed to hang on to its position as the market leader in the luxury car segment for the 11th consecutive year. 

For BMW, hits such as the iX1, which has single-handedly made the brand the undisputed leader in the luxury EV market, and entry-level models such as the 2 Series are key sales drivers.  

Mercedes not chasing volumes, focused on more lucrative niches  

In addition, aggressive deals and discounts by Audi and BMW have triggered a price war, which Mercedes-Benz India MD and CEO Santosh Iyer says he will not entertain. “We are very clear. We won’t get into a price war.” Instead, the focus has shifted away from volumes to more lucrative niches in the luxury car market. Iyer points to an 11 percent growth in top-end models and a 34 percent jump in AMGs. “My average selling price per car today is about Rs 1 crore. My top line is growing; if I only chased volumes, I would never take the kind of price increases we are taking.”​

Iyer also flags the impact of discounting on brand equity and used-car values. “Imagine the residual value with this kind of discounting.” He maintains that Mercedes’s more disciplined pricing is already visible in the used-car market: “After the GST revision, prices of Mercedes-Benz used cars didn’t crash. A three-year-old car is still getting a bloody good price.”​

While full-year revenue numbers are not yet public, the shift to more profitable, higher-end models is already feeding through the P&L. “From a balance sheet perspective, we are growing. Maybe with volumes we are not, but revenues are the best ever,” Iyer sums up.​​