Mercedes-Benz registered 15,300 units in 2017 marking 16% hike; BMW, JLR and Volvo too posted strong growth
Luxury car market in India is growing significantly and trend continued to be evident in 2017. Mercedes-Benz retained its pole position in Indian luxury car market in last year as the German auto major registered 15,300 units. This marked 16% sales growth for the brand. Despite facing bump due to the cess hike in new tax structure, Mercedes-Benz has been able to continue its growth momentum here. During Q1-Q3 period of 2017, the auto major recorded 11,869 units.
When Indian government rolled out GST, luxury carmakers were cheerful as the segment saw decline in total tax incidence. However, that didn’t last long as GST Council increased cess for luxury cars and currently it stands at 25% that leads to a total tax incidence of 53%. This turmoil in the pricing of luxury cars probably affected the sales of Mercedes-Benz slightly.
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A biggest contribution in this sales success of Mercedes-Benz came from the new E-Class, while other major contributors included C-Class sedan, GLC SUV and GLE SUV as well. The brand also experienced good volume with the CLA coupe that faced rise in demand since the facelifted version was launched in late 2016.
While this was the story of Mercedes-Benz, other players in the segment also posted strong growth. Jaguar Land Rover has been experiencing good growth in the country in recent past and in 2017, this British marquee registered 3,954 units, marking 49% growth that was the highest among all the brands. This is probably due to the price adjustment on all the models on offer from the brand.
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Thanks to the price revision, Jaguar Land Rover’s CBU models became more affordable in 2017. Local assembling of Jaguar F-Pace has helped the automaker to keep pricing lower and that certainly helped in improving the retail number. The British brand aims to post even higher number in 2018 with new models – Range Rover Velar and Jaguar E-Pace.
Despite tough competition from three German rivals and JLR, Volvo too has been able to make its mark in Indian market. The Swedish auto giant registered 2,029 units in 2017 marking an impressive 28% growth. In 2016, this Scandinavian auto manufacturer recorded 1,584 units. The luxury carmaker hopes to see higher growth in 2018 with its much awaited XC40 SUV.
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BMW India Group sold a total of 9,800 units in last year posting 25% growth. The Bavarian auto giant itself retailed 9,379 units, while Mini sold 421 units. BMW itself recorded 25% growth and Mini posted 17% growth. Another German luxury carmaker Audi retailed 7,876 units in 2017 compared to 7,742 units in 2016. The brand registered 2% growth in the country market in 2017.
Interestingly, this was the 10th year anniversary of Audi in India. The brand hopes to experience even better sales result in 2018 with models like new A6 and Q5. In 2017, Porsche too marked 10% growth in domestic market with 435 units. In the last year, Japanese luxury car brand Lexus too entered Indian market and grabbed pretty good attention.