Sold 1.8 times more cars than our closest rivals: Mercedes-Benz India CEO

The luxury segment is down by more than 20% in the first nine months of 2019, says Martin Schwenk, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India

Even as the Indian car market and the luxury segment in it has been seeing a downturn in the recent past, Mercedes-Benz has reported double digit growth in the last quarter ended September compared to previous quarter. With a wide product offering and innovative marketing solutions, the company is expected to launch a product offensive soon to grow sales, says Martin Schwenk, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India in an interaction with T E Narasimhan. Edited Excerpts:

You said demand is better month on month, compared to year on year. Is it for the industry or for Benz? Where is this growth coming from?

The month on month or quarter to quarter growth (Q2 to Q3 2019 and August-September-2019) is specifically for Mercedes-Benz. We don’t have industry data, as not every luxury OEM publishes it. We have grown by 25% from Q2 to Q3 2019 and by 29% from August 2019 to September 2019 in terms of volume.

We have been able to perform better than the industry and other brands. The growth has come from innovative mobility solutions like ‘Wish Box’ that we offered to customers to help them with their purchase decision and not delay or defer their purchase plan. We already have more than 500 booking from Wish Box campaign and it’s a big success for us.

Product wise, we see a very strong response to our Dream Cars (cabriolets, coupes and other high-end cars) portfolio that grew by an impressive 160% from January-September 2019 compared to 2018.

Which segment is driving the growth for Benz?

We have seen our mainstay products both in sedans and in SUVs performing as per our expectations. The C-Class, E-Class, S-Class sedans and the GLC, GLE and GLS SUVs remains our key volume driver. Also the dream cars and AMGs performed exceptionally well.

What is the average monthly sales for Benz and industry?

We do not publish our monthly numbers, but do that quarter wise. We have sold more than 10,000 cars from January till first week of October 2019. We have seen an uptick in growth and are close to our Q1 2019 volumes and expect Q4 to be satisfactory with ongoing festive season and planned product offensive

How is the luxury segment faring?

The luxury segment is down by more than 20% in the first nine months of 2019. We do not know the actual market size as not every brand shares their sales numbers regularly. Mercedes-Benz has a larger base and reach and we are confident of reviving growth.

How is Benz handling the drop in sales compared to peers and the luxury segment sales fall?

From January till the first week of October, we have already sold over 10,000 cars. This is the 5th year in a row we have crossed the important 10,000 milestone, an achievement no other luxury manufacturer can match till date. We have now a dominant market share of 40 per cent in the luxury car segment. We also sold 1.8 times more cars than our closest competitors.

How many products you have launched in 2018 and how many you plan for the next 12 months?

We had around 10 products launched in 2018 and from now on we have started our product offensive for Q4 2019 that will continue in 2020 as well. We will start a product offensive that has few precedence in the market.

Do you think uncertainties for GST confusion, monsoons etc are over?

We have seen early signs of recovery and that is a positive development. The market challenges are far from over and it will continue to pose hurdles in the growth path of the industry in coming quarters. Saying that, Mercedes-Benz is better poised than others in the market and our quarter to quarter recovery is a proof to that.

How the Government sops announced would help the auto industry and luxury in specific?

It has given the boost that was required and also shown a clear roadmap. For the luxury segment it surely created a positive sentiment among our buyers, who also often are business people.

How different is your product offerings?

Mercedes-Benz has the largest product portfolio in the entire auto industry with 25 products offerings across our New Generation Cars, sedans, SUVs, Dream Cars and AMGs. We literally have one Mercedes-Benz for each customer according to his or her taste and preference. Offerings should also reach the customers where he is- anywhere, anytime- on reason why we launch the e-commerce initiative in India

Any new investments on the card?

We already have a substantial investment in our manufacturing facility and we can ramp up depending on market demand. Currently the focus of our investments is not on capacity increase but more model specific. Our dealer partners have invested more than Rs 50 crore in creating new dealerships and upgrading existing ones.