Steady domestic economic growth amid signs of moderating inflation, coupled with strong corporate earnings, are fuelling demand at the higher end of the market and supporting sales of luxury vehicles. Within luxury, too, demand was stronger for top-end vehicles priced upward of ₹1 crore, said a senior industry executive. At Mercedes Benz, sales of top-end models, in fact, more than doubled in the first quarter. Top-end vehicles accounted for nearly one out of every three vehicles sold by the German carmaker in Q1.
“Even within the luxury segment, we are seeing an increased preference for high-end models,” Santosh Iyer, managing director, Mercedes Benz India, told ET. “This is an encouraging sign, indicating mature buyers in the market here.”
Iyer, who was speaking on the sidelines of launch of Mercedes Benz’ most powerful production car AMG GT 63 S E-Performance, said demand for luxury vehicles remains strong. “Our inquiry levels and order intake have not come down. The challenge is to reduce waiting across product lines,” he said.
Mercedes Benz India posted a growth of 17% to sell 4,697 units until March. It has an extra order backlog of 4,000 units. BMW and Audi are yet to report sales for Q1 in India. As per data on the Vahan portal of ministry of road, transport & highways, BMW’s sales fell 11% to 2,418 units in Q1, Audi India’s sales rose 63% to 476 units in the same period.
The numbers are incomplete as some regional transport offices are still not linked to the Vahan portal, but these are seen as a proxy for the trend in the automobile retail market, as manufacturers only disclose their dispatches from factories.
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