Mercedes-Benz records highest ever half-yearly sales in India

German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz on Friday announced a 12.4 per cent increase in its half-yearly sales at 8,061 units to stay ahead of its rivals in the segment. In the January-June period last year the company had sold 7,171 units, Mercedes-Benz India said in a statement. The sales growth also marks the brand’s highest ever half-yearly volumes in India, the company said.

Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Roland Folger said, “Our sales performance is in line with our expectation despite last year’s extraordinary demand in Q2, owing to the anticipation of GST implementation. The strong sales growth in January-June 2018 is aided by the new generation cars, the sedans, SUVs and the AMG performance cars, the company said.

Mercedes-Benz India said its SUV sales grew by 15.9 per cent in the Jan-June 2018 period.

“We want to continue our leadership position in the Indian luxury car market, upholding the number one position for the last three years,” Folger said. The company’s German rival BMW has reported a 13 per cent growth in the sales of BMW and MINI brand of cars to 5,171 units during the January-June period ths year.

Swedish luxury car mamufacturer Volvo Cars announced a record 33 per cent growth in volumes in Jan-June 2018 compared to the same period last year. The robust sales performance of 1,242 units is spearheaded by the XC60 which contributed 25 per cent of the total volume. Successful addition of S90 to local assembly, aggressive network expansion and exemplary brand engagement programs led to the best ever H1 sales performance for the company.

The rest of the year looks even brighter with the launch of XC40.

Volvo Car India MD Charles Frump said, “We are extremely happy with our growth pace and intend to keep up the momentum for the rest of 2018. The recently launched XC40 is our first offering in the entry level SUV segment and we expect the XC40 to build a new customer base for us and drive sales

source: businesstoday