Between 2015 and 2019, Mercedes-Benz dominated the sales charts but it wasn’t necessarily the case in the previous five years
Mercedes-Benz India continued to lead the way in the luxury space in 2019 and ended the final quarter of the year with positive Year-on-Year sales growth. The highest ever Q4 sales culminated in a total of 3,871 units with 3.3 per cent volume jump. When compared to Q3, the sales increase was 15.41 per cent as Mercedes-Benz registered 13,786 units between January and December 2019.
Although the domestic tally met with 11 per cent sales drop, Mercedes gained 3.5 per cent market share. The German auto major retained the top spot from Audi in 2015 and continued on since then. The last five years have been nothing short of brilliant for the three-pointed star as Mercedes-Benz capitalised on the widening spectrum of luxury car buyers.
The company has led the luxury class for five consecutive years now and is primed to bring in new products to maintain its advantage at the top. Besides the all-new GLE debuting later this month, the new generation CLA, GLA and GLS have been confirmed to arrive from the second quarter of this year onwards.
| Year | Audi | BMW | Mercedes-Benz |
| 2010 | 3,003 | 6,246 | 5,819 |
| 2011 | 5,511 | 9,371 | 7,500 |
| 2012 | 9,003 | 9,375 | 6,840 |
| 2013 | 10,003 | 7,327 | 9,003 |
| 2014 | 10,851 | 6,200 | 10,201 |
| 2015 | 11,192 | 6,650 | 13,502 |
| 2016 | 7,720 | 7,500 | 13,231 |
| 2017 | 7,876 | 9,800 | 15,330 |
| 2018 | 6,463 | 10,405 | 15,538 |
| 2019 | 4,594 | 9,000 | 13,786 |
| TOTAL | 76,216 | 81,774 | 1,10,750 |
This past decade began with BMW heading the yearly charts with 6,246 units and the following couple of years saw its domination continue with 9,371 and 9,375 units in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Audi took over the proceedings in 2013 as it breached the five-digit sales market while Mercedes finish close behind.
Midway through the decade, Audi extended its lead by posting 10,851 units while BMW’s sales fell to 6,200 units. Unlike Audi, BMW has steadily been recovering over the last few years and maximised its deliveries to 10,405 units in 2018. Last year, BMW Group managed to record 9,000 unit sales domestically while Audi’s fell to just 4,594 units.
The heated rivalry between Mercedes-Benz and BMW is expected to continue in the new year as a barrage of new products are waiting in the wings. Both the brands have taken the opportunity for granted and brought in new vehicles within a few months of their global launches to India to make a strong impact among customers.