Monday, July 23, 2012
By Pawan Rana
Luxury carmakers to pitch in under Rs 25 lakh price cars to gain volume
There are the most lush and plush cars in India as the country is a heaven for car makers and it is one of the fastest growing car market albeit the recent slowdown. There are cars from Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW and other luxury car makers all above Rs 25 lakh price band. Now in order to bring in some high activity on the sales chart, the luxury car makers have decided to pitch in cars in the Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh segment. This will not only help them gain volumes but will also give a boost to their market share. The most hurt car maker, Mercedes Benz that has been overthrown from the numero uno position seems to be the next to bring in cars in the under Rs 25 lakh price segment. Mercedes Benz B Class Sports Tourer, Mercedes Benz A Class and Mercedes Benz GLC SUV will all be priced under Rs 25 lakh. Audi and BMW have already pitched in low price tag cars.
Where the Mercedes B Class Sports Tourer will be launching in September and has been unveiled recently, the A Class as well as the GLC will be coming in the next two years. These will be targeting other market leaders such as BMW X1 and the recently launched Audi Q3 that is making buzz and fetching huge response from premium SUV buyers in India. Also, by pitching in these cars Mercedes will be able to offer premium cars at low price to those who love to have a ‘Mers’ in there lot. This will help Mercedes regain its lost position after BMW launched the Rs 22.40 lakh X1 and Audi launched the Q3 at Rs 26.21 lakh.
The premium car segment witnessed a growth of 10.5 percent in the first quarter this fiscal after a mammoth 27 percent growth in 2010-11. The decrease signals that even this segment has been hit by price rise, high interest rates and high fuel prices. The overall slump has also affect sales in the premium segment that includes Toyota Fortuner, Honda Accord, Skoda Superb and other cars.
