Mercedes-Benz India seeks to regain its lost numero uno position in the Indian luxury

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car market by bringing models targeted at the youth. Mercedes was dislodged by BMW as the top luxury carmaker in

India in 2009.

“Our future cars, including small cars, will have a changed design communication, styling and positioning to unleash our younger side,” Debashis Mitra, director, sales & marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, said in an interview at the company's Rs 600-crore plant in Chakan, near Pune.

Rivals BMW and Audi have changed their brand perception with more youthful, sportier cars as the average age of the luxury car buyer has dropped to 35 years from 45 about five years ago. More people are getting rich at a younger age in India due to the economic boom. Luxury cars are defined as cars priced at Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

“We may have not portrayed that in the past, but we started the process around a year ago with the launch of models like SLS-AMG and E-Class Cabriolet that appeal to younger buyers,” Mitra said.

Mercedes-Benz India is looking to reduce the average age of buyers by two years from 38-40 years by next year. The average age of a BMW buyer is 30-35 years while that for Audi is 25-30.

About 40 per cent of Mercedes’ sales come from its entry-level C-Class range, for which the average age of buyers has dropped to 30-35 years from 40-45 about three years ago.

Mitra said the recent C-Class launched in 2008 succeeded in attracting younger buyers because of its sportier, youth-appealing design. The company has hinted that it may launch a refurbished C-Class in the second half of 2011. The German carmaker is also looking to reduce the average age of the E-Class buyer (which contributes 40 per cent of sales) from 35-40 years at present to 30-35, and of the S-Class to less than the present 45 years by the end of next year.

“While there is a series of product launches parked for the second half of this year, we will also be bringing in products to India which are not even there globally,” said Mitra. He, however, refused to share details. “We don’t have cars like the X1 to compete in volumes (with BMW) as of now. Once we have a full portfolio in the next three-four years (including A-Class and B-Class), we will aim at getting back to No. 1,” Mitra said.

Till then, Mercedes wants to be No. 1 at least in the segments in which it competes with BMW, he said. Merc’s C-Class competes with BMW’s 3-Series, E-Class with 5-Series, S-Class with 7-Series and M-Class with X5. The company will launch a rival GLK-Class SUV to compete with the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 in the next two-three years, he added. Mercedes-Benz India, which sold 5,820 cars in 2010, aims to grow its sales by 40-50 per cent this year. BMW plans to sell 10,000 cars in 2011 while Audi aims to sell 5,000.

saahilanant@mydigitalfc.com

(The correspondent's visit to Chakan was hosted by Mercedes-Benz India)