NEW DELHI: The demand for mainline car brands may be sluggish, but luxury makers continue to see growth in India on the back of newer launches and widening distribution network. Mercedes Benz is having a revival of sorts as the company's sales volumes returned to the positive in 2013, and India is set to become the company's fastest-growing market worldwide ahead of China, the US and Europe, according to internal projections. TOI speaks to Matthias Luhrs, VP for global sales of Mercedes Benz Cars at the company's headquarters in Pune to get his views on the Indian market.
The Indian car market has been passing through a tough time, and volumes have declined 5% this fiscal. Are you worried?
It's a fact that the car market here is going through difficult times, but as far as the luxury cars are concerned, there is growth. We are growing at 30% and are making new investments. We feel that there is still a lot of potential in India as its volumes will more than double to about 5.2 million units annually by 2020.
How has 2013 fared for you, considering that your volumes slipped into the negative last year?
This has been a successful year for Mercedes India, and we will cross 9,000 units in sales against the 7,138 units we sold in 2012. New products like the A and B Class and expansion have helped us get growth.
BMW and Audi had edged past you in sales during the previous years. In 2013, you regained the top position briefly. How crucial is the number one tag?
Our first priority is to launch our best products here and make Mercedes the top brand in terms of marketing and customer experience. When this happens, we are sure to re-emerge as the top luxury brand.
Are there products that you feel are missing in your portfolio?
We need smaller-and mid-size SUVs in our portf olio to counter rivals. The GLA SUV, which debuts in Europe next year, will be the answer here.
via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGlztvNYqOsw5WipU_vgA5po01SYw&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-to-be-Mercs-fastest-growing-market-globally-Matthias-Luhrs/articleshow/27233068.cms
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