Mercedes Benz bets on high-performance cars for the tech-inclined driver

Prices start at Rs 75 lakh for C43 Coupe to Rs 3 crore for a fully loaded AMG S63.

Mercedes-Benz India has said it will stay on track with its rollout of new cars for 2020. What’s encouraging is the company has said it will launch around 10 new cars, of which around four are expected to be high-performance AMG cars. Two of those, the AMG C-63 Coupé and the GTR were launched on Wednesday at Rs 1.33 crore and Rs 2.48 crore (ex-showroom India, except Kerala), respectively.

Last year, the carmaker actually launched fewer cars, officials said. In 2019 there were six launches of which only one was an AMG. The AMG cars that Mercedes-Benz retails across its key showrooms includes over a dozen models — prices start at Rs 75 lakh for the C43 Coupe to Rs 3 crore for the fully-loaded AMG S63.

“The two cars (launched on Wednesday) represent high performance products designed for petrol-heads who love to drive fast and are into technology,” Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Martin Schwenk said. “Our decision of introducing these two products is aimed at expanding the top-of-the-pyramid performance segment, which has witnessed encouraging demand in 2019.”

According to the company's annual report for 2019, Daimler sold 3.34 million vehicles worldwide in 2019. In 2018, it sold 3.35 million.

But the firm said in the report that “individual and self-determined mobility is likely to remain the company’s primary business model for the car segment over the coming decade”. The firm went on to add that volumes, in the premium and luxury segments in particular, should increase further.

“Growth here is likely to be driven primarily by China and other Asian markets, although the more established markets in Europe and the US will contribute to this growth as well. We plan to exploit this potential, in particular with our range of high-quality models such as the G-Class, as well as through our Mercedes-AMG, and Mercedes-Maybach sub-brands,” the report said.

Sales of Daimler’s sports cars rose by 48 per cent to 28,400 units in 2019 on year-on-year basis, largely due to the market success of its Mercedes-AMG GT models. That trend is also mimicked here with the AMG performance cars having grown the most for Mercedes-Benz in the past couple of years. The AMG brand reported a 64 per cent increase year-on-year to 2019, Schenk said, adding that with over 50 per cent market share, its performance has come “despite the funk that the entire auto industry has been in”. That means it sells more cars than Porsche India.

Schwenk said the company sells around 200 AMG cars a year, and while sales are typically highest in Delhi and Mumbai, the last year saw Bengaluru emerge as a prime market, accounting for some 25 per cent of volumes. Bengaluru is now the largest market for AMG cars after New Delhi, and Mumbai is the third.

Sirish Chandran, editor of car enthusiast magazine Evo India, said that while premium carmakers like BMW, and Audi have performance cars, the difference with Mercedes-Benz is that it puts its weight behind the AMG. “The AMG brand has shop-in-shop facilities integrated across its dealerships in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru, and one soon to come in Chennai,” Chandran said.

Performance car driving has increased in India in recent times with the advent of circuits the Buddh International Circuit F-1 Track in Noida and the racing track in Chennai. Experts said the growth of super car clubs that include the Cannonball Club, the Throttle Club and more is helping the sale of performance cars. There are about five organised clubs and at least a dozen more homegrown ones across the country with enthusiasts who are into performance driving.