Mercedes-Benz plans to introduce a sub Rs 20 lakh car to regain its position as the market leader in the luxury car segment in India. The new model will most likely be the new A-Class based on the Mercedes Front-Wheel Architecture (MFA). The A-Class will be the second vehicle after the recently launched B-Class in the five car range to arrive in India, based on this platform for economical vehicles.
“I will not eliminate the case that we will have a car below Rs 20 lakh,” said Peter Honegg, managing director of Mercedes-Benz India. He added that the A-Class, scheduled for launch next year, could be priced in this range.
The German automaker aims to have 40 per cent of its products in sub Rs 25 lakh range to increase volumes by 2016. The new range will include front-wheel-drive vehicles like the CLA sedan and the GLA compact crossover. The new models will compete with the entry-level BMWs and Audis including the very successful X1 and the Q3.
Mercedes-Benz had lost the top slot in the Indian market to BMW and might lost second place to Audi, who is all set to sell over 8000 units by the end of the year. Mercedes expects to sell around 7450 units by end of this year.
“Globally our target is to regain the number one position by 2020. In India, we will be fighting for number game much ahead of it. By 2015-16, we will have the entire range of products from premium to luxury in India and that is when we will look at competition again,” Honegg said.
Mercedes-Benz is also looking and localising operations further for an additional investment of Rs 600 crore in new state of the art paint shop at its Chakan plant. It will also roll out the locally manufactured ML350 CDI from the same plant on October 15.
