“The new SLK 350 is one of the most revolutionary products to come from the stable of Mercedes Benz. With its powerful innovative features and state of art technology, the car proves not just to be an exhilarating experience to the driver but also a visual delight, consolidating its status as a benchmark product world over,” says Peter Honegg, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
Facing fierce competition from BMW and Audi, the brand endeavours to spring back in action. The brand registered a sale of 3,798 cars in the first six months of 2011 while BMW sold 4,524 units in the same time period. Although, the brand recorded a good 58 per cent rise in sales as compared to the same time period in 2010, the numbers fell flat when BMW recorded a whopping 200 per cent rise in the sales for the same time period (January to June 2011) as compared to last year. Audi, although lags behind in its sales, is quickly catching up with the Mercedes’ aspirational value and is expected to soon measure up to the brand in terms of sales. Audi has been aggressively launching new models, most recent being Audi A6.
However, Debasis Mitra, Director, Marketing and Sales, Mercedes India, defends the brand and says, “the luxury car segment cannot be judged on numbers. Our cars are not talking about numbers but technology.” He further added that excluding X1 category of cars (priced at Rs 22 lakh and in the premium SUV segment), which is one of the fastest growing car segments, the brand is far ahead of BMW in other segments of luxury car market. The brand enjoys about 40 per cent market share in the luxury car market.
BMW had launched BMW X1 in December 2010 and had managed to sell 1000 units at the time of the launch. The X1 model itself boasted of contributing 45 per cent of the brand’s total sales from January to June time period. The segment has attracted other players such as Skoda Yeti, which managed to trade in around 1,100 units within the time frame of January to May 2011. Ford Endeavor sold 1,404 cars and Toyota Fortuner, the leader in the segment recorded a sale of 4,485 units in the same period. Mercedes on the other hand, is absent in the segment and has hinted at the possibility of launching a car in the future.
Speaking on the occasion, auto expert Murad Ali Baig feels that the “problem with Mercedes is that consumers are now too familiar with the brand”. He adds, “Every super rich man in this country will own a Mercedes Benz, and therefore when they go on to buy another car, they want to experiment with another brand, which is young in its appeal.” He further substantiated by saying that “BMW and Audi are considered to have a young image, which Mercedes is trying to achieve by launching a car such as this”.
Earlier this year, Peter Honegg, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes India made a statement that he wants to change Mercedes’ ‘old man’s image’ in the market. Taking the idea ahead, the brand has opened star lounge in the T3 section of Delhi International airport, which has two sections. The first one is exclusively for Mercedes buyers and the other section allows every potential consumer to know more about the SLK 350. It plans to open more star lounges all over the country for giving its consumer, an experience of the brand.
For the promotion of the new offering, the brand will tap on the exclusivity factor by organising by-invitation events for its potential customers. Apart from that, the brand will invest in print media comprises 50 per cent of its ad budget. Refusing to divulge more details on the media mix, the marketer said that it selects those publications, which reaches maximum number of consumers.
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