Press Information

2nd July, 2015

Mercedes-Benz scripts yet another historic sales

record in India; clocks its best ever Q2 and the

highest ever half-yearly sales: astounding sales

growth of 41% from H1 2014

Record 6659 units sold in the Jan-June 2015 period, a 41% year-on-year growth

(Jan - June 2014: 4717 units

Mercedes-Benz records its best ever Q2 (up by 43%) and best ever half-yearly

sales in the company’s history in India (Q2 2015: 3093 units; H1 2015: 6659

units)

Mercedes-Benz nearly equals its total sales volumes of 2012, in the first six

months of 2015 itself (Jan-Dec 2012: 7138 units)

The spectacular growth is buoyed by high customer acceptance of the entire

portfolio which is the most comprehensive and young and comprises the New

Generation Cars, the sedans, the SUVs and the performance cars, Mercedes-

AMG

A spectacular 100% growth (Jan-June 2015 period) of the SUV portfolio

underlines the increasing customer preference for Mercedes-Benz’s

comprehensive SUV portfolio

The luxury sedans comprising the World Car of the Year- the new C-Class, the

E-Class, the S-Class and the stylish CLA-Class remained key volume

contributors and grew by 40% (Jan-June 2015 period)

Six products launched in the first six months of 2015; nine exciting products to

follow in the second half

Densest network presence for any luxury car maker, 73 outlets in 39 cities: new

outlets in Jamshedpur, Ghaziabad and Bangalore inaugurated; while new AMG

Performance Centre in Hyderabad and Pune added. Twelve more new outlets to

be inaugurated in the remaining two quarters

Pune: India’s fastest growing luxury car brand for last three years in a row, Mercedes-

Benz, created yet another sales history by registering its best ever Q2 and half-yearly

sales. Continuing its historic growth momentum, Mercedes-Benz India registered a

stellar 41% year-on-year growth by selling 6659 units in the Jan - June 2015 period.

This sales growth also marks the brand’s highest ever Q2 volumes at 3093 units, up by

43% (April - June 2014: 2163 units).

This spectacular growth is buoyed by the most comprehensive and a young product

portfolio comprising the New Generation Cars, the sedans, the SUVs and the AMG

performance cars. As the C-Class and the E-Class luxury sedans continue to remain on

top of customer preference, the SUVs, especially the M-Class continues to grow

significantly followed by the larger GL-Class. The launch of the C 220 CDI and its

subsequent local manufacturing enabled Mercedes-Benz to cater to the increasing

demand of this segment benchmark luxury sedan. The success run of the NGCs, in

particular the CLA and the GLA, continues across markets and added new young

customers to the brand’s increasing customer base. The addition of the GLA 200 CDI to

the local production portfolio is expected to drive the demand of this SUV even further

while reducing the waiting period. The dream cars and the high performance AMG

models also sustained their growth momentum in the performance segment.

Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, “In

the first six months of 2015, we sold almost as many cars as in the entire year of 2012.

We created a strong growth momentum in Q1 taking clear sales lead, and are glad to

sustain this stellar growth story in Q2 as well. We are on track with our long term

objective of achieving a sustained profitable growth for our business in India. This

performance firmly underlines the acceptance of our customer focused approach and

reiterates yet again, Mercedes-Benz India’s proven brand premium and competitive

edge in the luxury car industry. The brand remains distinct in terms of offering

continuous product innovations, having the largest luxury car production facility,

extending an enriching service experience and strengthening our extensive network

footprint. With some of the most awaited products in the pipeline for the remaining two

quarters, including the much awaited AMG GT, Mercedes-Benz is all set for another

year of strong growth.”

Mercedes-Benz India provides complete peace of mind to customers with its innovative

service and finance programmes. Mercedes-Benz cars are equipped with 2 years

standard warranty and additionally a 1 Year Star Care program as standard. Customers

can also avail benefit from the extended warranty for the 4th year, with no mileage

restriction. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services offers a full range of unique finance and

insurance services which support the customers in providing value. These unique

programmes comprise Corporate Star Lease, Star Finance, Star Agility etc.

(All figures of Mercedes-Benz India are that of retail sales.)

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Mercedes-Benz India Media Contacts:

Shekhar Das Chowdhury | shekhar.daschowdhury@daimler.com |+91 98508 36477

Reuben George | reuben.george@daimler.com | +91 98239 69057

About Mercedes-Benz India:

Established in 1994, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. pioneered the luxury car market in India and

boasts of more than 129 years of cutting edge innovation in the luxury automobile industry

globally. Set up in 2009, Mercedes-Benz India’s world class production facility is spread over

100 acres in Chakan near Pune. The production facility is among the fastest green-field

operations ever to be created and is rated among the topmost CKD plants of Mercedes-Benz,

globally. Since June 2015, Mercedes-Benz India also commenced production from its new

expanded production facility located in the same premises. The production facility now carries

an investment of INR 1000+ crores and has an installed production capacity of 20,000 units

annually, largest for any luxury car maker in India. Mercedes-Benz India product portfolio

comprises the locally produced S-Class, E-Class, C-Class sedans and the GLA, GL-Class and

the M-Class SUVs. Completely Built Imported cars portfolio include the A-Class, B-Class, CLA-

Class, CLS-Class, SLK-Class, E-Class Cabriolet, and a range of Guard vehicles etc. The

product portfolio also comprises the iconic off-roader G 63 AMG as well as a wide range of

other AMG performance cars like the CLA 45 AMG, E 63 AMG, SLK 55 AMG, GL 63 AMG, ML

63 AMG and the GLA 45 AMG.

Continuing its growth momentum into 2015, Mercedes-Benz India announced its philosophy for

the year 2015 as the year of ‘Live the Best’, which is based on its brand philosophy of ‘Best or

Nothing’. The growth strategy is built on 5 key initiatives with an aim to provide nothing but the

‘BEST’ to its customers, through BEST products, BEST operations, BEST touch points, BEST

customer experiences and BEST corporate citizenship. ‘Live The BEST' which is the new

driving philosophy for Mercedes-Benz India in 2015, aims to also achieve the objectives of

growing a profitable and sustainable business in India and to further extend its customer

focused approach.

The company has already started the 2015 on a high with six key product launches, these

being, the CLA-Class, the C 220 CDI, the new B-Class, the E-Class Cabriolet, the CLS 250 CDI

and the S600 Guard. Mercedes-Benz India also inaugurated new dealerships in Jamshedpur,

and Ghaziabad along with a new city showroom in Bangalore and a service outlet in

Trivandrum. Mercedes-Benz inaugurated its highly exclusive AMG Performance Centre, in

Hyderabad and Pune. There are five such high-end AMG Performance Centre in India,

currently. Currently Mercedes-Benz India has 73 outlets across 39 Indian cities including 3

standalone Mercedes-Benz Certified outlets, making it the brand with the densest network

presence in the luxury segment, in India.

In Q1 2015 Mercedes-Benz also became the leading luxury car manufacturer in India by

registering a stellar 40% growth, selling 3566 units. Mercedes-Benz for the second consecutive

year has emerged as the ‘most awarded luxury car brand’ in India. The brand has won as many

as 34 prestigious automotive awards conferred by different media houses across India, the

highest won by any luxury automotive brand in India. In the Economic Times’ Brand Equity

‘Most Exciting Brands’ survey 2015, Mercedes-Benz emerged on top of the ‘Automotive four

wheeler’ category and remained the topmost auto brand in the survey that comprised 100

brands in India across categories.