Mercedes-Benz in top gear, sees the highest ever June quarter sales

Mercedes-Benz deliveries in the first half of 2022 also increased at a rapid pace, increasing 56 percent to 7,573 units between January and June.

Mercedes is on a roll in India. A positive business sentiment and a desire to own the latest models from its stable drove the April-June quarter sales at the local arm of the German luxury carmaker to a record high, according to a top company executive.

For the quarter ended June (Q2), it sold 3,551 units, the highest ever in any Q2 in the company’s 28-year history in India. It had sold 1,664 units in the corresponding period last year.  

Deliveries in the first half of 2022 also advanced at a brisk pace, soaring 56 per cent to 7,573 units in the January-June period. This was the second highest since 2018. It had delivered 8,061 units in the comparable period in 2018.

“It’s a genuine demand for many months now. It’s no longer a pent-up demand,” Martin Schwenk, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Mercedes India, told Business Standard.

The company’s order book for the new models has doubled to over 6,000 units in three months, underscoring the robust demand, he pointed out.

In addition to the new models — including the Maybach S Class and C Class introduced this year — a positive consumer sentiment and a resilient business climate also helped, added Schwenk. This is in contrast to the global macro-economic scenario.

While the inflationary trend had an adverse impact, the desire to purchase a luxury product outweighed the inflationary trend, as there is financial capability to deal with the latter, said Schwenk.

This is in line with the trend seen among the luxury travel and home buyers, he added.

Almost 11 per cent of the investable wealth of Indian ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) is allocated towards passion-led investments, against the global average of 16 per cent.

About 29 per cent of India's UHNWIs spent more on passion investments in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2022.

UHNWIs are individuals with a net worth of $30 million and above.

“Joy of ownership scored above investment returns,” the report said.

Meanwhile, the semiconductor shortage continues to weigh on sales. “If not for the shortage, we would have done even better. We are working to reduce the impact but it will last for the remaining months of the year,” Schwenk said.

The recently-launched C Class has a waiting period of two to three months, and for the Maybach S 580, it is four to five months. The GLA or GLS models have waiting periods of 4-5 months and 10-11 months, respectively. So, there are hardly any models from the company that are available off the shelf.

But even as supply chain constraints continue, Mercedes is not postponing new model launches.

It is on track to bring the locally-assembled EQS — the electric sedan, followed by the EQB — the electric SUV, in the festive season this year.

In addition, it will also bring variants of some of the existing conventional fuel-based models.

Schwenk said he expects 2022 to be the best year for Mercedes in India, provided the supply chain issues do not impact the plans.