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Used car biz to contribute up to 20% to sales: Merc

Tuesday, 17 August 2010

18 August 2010;dailypioneer.com:Rakesh Bihari jha:New Delhi: German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz is aggressively concentrating on its used car business as it hopes the segment to contribute 15-20 per cent to the company’s overall sales by 2011. The company doesn’t face any competition in the used luxury car segment currently as its arch rival BMW is still planning to enter the segment. “With our Proven Exclusivity used car programme, the dream of owning a Mercedes-Benz has become even more achievable and I am confident that this segment would contribute 15-20 per cent to our company’s overall sales by 2011,” said Mercedes Benz India MD and CEO Wilfried Aulbur, adding, “as of now used cars are being sold through six authorized dealerships in the four cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad and we have already sold 300 cars.” Mercedes Benz also hopes to sustain double digit growth not only in the rest of 2010, but also expects the same in the next 5 to 10 years as India is growing comparatively very fast. “We had said in the begining of the year that 2010 will be an exciting year for India. Mercedes has already launched 17 models and a few more are still left. As India is growing comparatively fast we hope that we will have strong double digit growth not only in the rest of the year but also in the next five to ten years,” said Aulbur. The company on Tuesday launched a new version of its E-Class priced at Rs 64.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The new car E-Class Cabriolet - a four-seater convertible with soft top is the seventh offering within the E-Class range in the country. “In the January-July period this year, we have had 80 per cent growth in sales. We are well poised to continue to grow in double digits,” Aulbur said, adding, “the company is looking to leverage on the booming market in India.” E-Class Cabriolet is aimed at strengthening the company’s position in India aimed at niche segment of buyers. As per SIAM data, Mercedes Benz has beaten arch rival BMW for the top spot in the Indian luxury car segment with a massive 79.31 per cent jump in sales to a total of 2,921 units in the January-July period as against a total of 2,718 units from BMW.