Debashis Mitra, Former Director, Sales & Marketing, Mercedes India, speaks about his company’s long-term strategy for India and how it plans to reclaim the No.1 spot in the luxury car segment by next year
B&E: Car models in the mass segment are facing the brunt of the economic slowdown but the luxury car segment is doing well. What are reasons for its good showing?
B&E: Car models in the mass segment are facing the brunt of the economic slowdown but the luxury car segment is doing well. What are reasons for its good showing?
Debashis Mitra (DM): As elsewhere, the luxury car market in India is not dependent on economic cycles. Only individuals with surplus income purchase a luxury car. However, on the consumer front economic sentiments matter and currently those sentiments are down. But the Sensex has been moving up of late and the market too will bounce back for the auto sector in general.
B&E: Tough competition in the luxury car segment has seen Mercedes lose its top position. Looking back what do you think led to the loss of your position?
B&E: Tough competition in the luxury car segment has seen Mercedes lose its top position. Looking back what do you think led to the loss of your position?
DM: If you add up the premium and luxury segments we may not have the sales numbers to match our competitors. But then we have not dropped our car prices as there is no point playing short-term games. Dropping the price by 20% may get you the volumes but over a period of time you will not be able to sell more. You can already see this happening with the players who claim to be No.1 or No.2. The resale value of their cars has taken a big hit.
B&E: But the fact is that BMW and Audi sell more cars than Mercedes in India. Do you have a plan to reclaim your position?
B&E: But the fact is that BMW and Audi sell more cars than Mercedes in India. Do you have a plan to reclaim your position?
If we look at the traditional luxury market, i.e above the Rs.3 million C-class, E-class, S-class, the SUV segment, ML-class and GL-class, we are still far ahead of the competition. However, right now we are not present in the premium segment, i.e in the Rs.2.5-3 million price bracket. But we will be back in competition by 2014 when the market grows and is much bigger than what it is today.
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