German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz Thursday said sales in India are currently muted and expects these to grow only in the second half of 2019 after the general elections in the country.
The company, which Thursday launched its AMG C 43 4MATIC Coup with a starting price of Rs 75 lakh (ex-showroom India), also said it sees a higher growth rate for its performance cars though the absolute volume remains small.
Mercedes-Benz India, which sold 15,538 units in 2018, is hopeful that it would be able to sell more this year despite the current tough market conditions.
"Sales are okay so far but they are not indicating any growth story at the moment. We see customers still coming to the showroom, showing interest in the products but we see hesitation in purchase," Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Martin Schwenk told PTI here.
Currently, the overall automobile market sentiment is weak with customers holding back discretionary spends, high interest rates and tightening of financing by non-banking financial companies.
"We expect some of these to stabilise in the second half after the elections. We don't expect any growth in the first half," he said.
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On the past trend, Schwenk said: "Historically, in election years (in India), we have muted sales prior to the election period and one or two months after the elections, we get stability and better growth. So, we have seen the history and that's what we expect for this election year (too)".
The Lok Sabha elections will be held from April 11 to May 19 across seven phases, followed by counting of votes on May 23.
When asked about the overall sales outlook for the year, he said: "We are cautiously optimistic to have some growth based on last year's number but it all depends on how the second half goes."