Mercedes-Benz India has announced its sales performance and the brand has registered 2,948 units for the period of January-June 2020, despite facing challenges due to the ongoing COVIDD-19 pandemic and the lockdown related to it. Mercedes-Benz India is gradually resuming operation in a phased manner under new guidelines and permissions from relevant authorities and with Unlock 1.0 underway the brand’s priority is the safety of its customers, staff and dealer partners.
Mercedes-Benz revealed that the SUV segment remains the most preferred segment with 57% penetration in June 2020. The German brand has also announced that the newly launched GLS SUV has comprised of 22% of June 2020 and along with the GLS the C-Class, the E-Class and the GLC remain the key volume drivers.
The unavailability of BS4 volume models during the BS6 transition was another challenge faced by the brand during the H1 2020 and the brand is expecting further sales growth during H2 2020 with the launch of new volume-driven products and availability of BS6 volume models.
Mercedes-Benz has launched its contactless sales channel encouraging customers to explore and book Mercedes-Benz cars from the safety and convenience of their home. The online sales platform also provides Mercedes-Benz customers with a home delivery option and the brand expects that a significant part of its total sales will be shifted completely online by 2025 in the Indian market.
Additionally, customers can also avail pre-owned Mercedes-Benz cars online and the brand has already integrated all the Mercedes-Benz pre-owned dealers across the country into the online contactless system.
In related news, Mercedes-Benz India has launched the new 2020 GLS in India priced at INR 99.90 lakh in both the petrol and diesel iterations available in the GLS 400d 4MATIC and GLS 450 4MATIC with EQ Boost. Mercedes-Benz offers service packages for the new SUV starting from INR 82,100 for 2 years for the GLS 450 petrol variant and INR 98,800 for 2 years for the GLS 400d diesel variant. The Mercedes-Benz GLS rivals the BMW X7 in the Indian market.