Merc in top gear in ’24, clocks highest quarter sales in India
Times of India | 12 April 2024
Kolkata: Mercedes-Benz India (MBI) made a strong start to 2024 with sales of 5,412 cars from Jan-March, the highest-ever quarter sales in its 30 years of operations in the country. The strong show also paves the way for MBI achieving the 20,000 annual sales milestone but it needs to overcome challenges of supply bottlenecks to race past the landmark.
Q1 is usually the strongest quarter for automakers and comprises 1/4th of the annual sales.Last year, out of 17,408 units, 4,697 units or 27% of vehicles were sold in Q1. In 2022, Q1 sales were 4,022 units or 25% of 15,822 units sold that year. “We are confident of a double digit growth in the remaining quarters. However, we also face challenges due to certain model run-outs earlier than planned, and any supply bottlenecks which can impact volume developments,” MBI managing director and chief executive officer Santosh Iyer said on Thursday.
The numbers for financial year 2023-24 were the highest ever with the automaker clocking 18,123 units, up from 16,497 units in 2022-23.
The record performance in the first quarter was driven by SUVs that comprised 60% of vehicles sold between Jan and March. One in four cars sold in the first three months of the year had a price tag exceeding Rs 1 crore. These included vehicles like the GLS, S-Class, Mercedes-Maybach, the EQS, G-Class and the AMG range.
In next three months, MBI will launch four new top-end vehicles, including the AMG S 63 e-Performance and AMG C 63 e-Performance. Also among the new launches in 2024 will be three new battery electric vehicles (BEVs).