Slowdown bites Merc, volume falls 16% in first 9 months

Luxury major Mercedes-Benz India on Wednesday said its sales fell 16 percent to 9,915 units in the January-September period, amid the worst crisis the industry is facing in the past two decades. The luxury segment leader had sold 11,789 units in the first nine months of 2018.

The company, however, said it has already crossed 10,000 units in the first week of October and expects the sales to rise slightly in the full year. On Dussehra-Navratra, the German car major said it sold 200 cars in Mumbai, Gujarat, with the financial capital alone snapping up 125 units.

"We are glad to maintain our leadership despite facing strong macroeconomic headwinds from the earlier quarters, and also having a higher base effect. "On the back of a strong September performance, we have already crossed the 10,000 units mark by the first week of October, and are confident of maintaining this momentum by leveraging the upbeat customer sentiment," said Martin Schwenk, managing director and chief executive of Mercedes- Benz India.

The long wheelbase E class remained the volume driver in the first nine months of the year, while the C Class and the GLC SUV also contributed to the volume, besides a strong demand for the GLS SUVs, the company said. The performance segment however grew the highest by an impressive 160 percent and outperformed other segments, the company added.

Merc continues to remain bullish on the mid-to-long- term prospect, Schwenk said. Tuesday the company had said it delivered over 125 cars, the highest ever, to customers on Dussehra in Mumbai and another 74 cars to customers in Gujarat on the Navratri.

"The overwhelming customer response resulting in deliveries of over 200 stars in Mumbai and Gujarat and some other markets during Dussehra and Navratri signify that we've similar level of excitement and fascination from customers, which we witnessed in 2018; and that is a positive development for us," said Schwenk. The models delivered included C and E class sedans as well as sports utility vehicles such as GLC and GLE, among others, he said adding both Mumbai and Gujarat remain one of the top focus markets for them..