Reference Auto

Now, it seems Mercedes-Benz or Merc is eyeing a share of the high-end luxury cars market by eating into Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Aston Martin’s share with the roll out of premium cars, the SL 350 and GL 500, on Indian roads, the price of which range from Rs 81 lakh to Rs 98.5 lakh.

Also, Mercedes-Benz has seen the astronomical growth in India’s compact cars market and does not seem keen on (at the moment) upstaging its German peer BMW as India’s largest luxury cars seller.

Rather, Merc plans to roll out some of its small cars in the Indian market and trump its German peers in overall share.

Merc’s SL 350 is a sports car propelled by a 3.5-litre V6 engine while the GL 500 is an SUV that runs on a 5.4-litre V6 engine.

“The SL 350 and GL 500 are among the most popular offerings in our portfolio. I am upbeat that both the vehicles will draw auto enthusiasts, critics, customers and media alike,” Mercedes-Benz India managing director Peter Honegg said.

He added that the GL 500, which he claimed as one of the most powerful SUVs in the world, would ideally cater to the burgeoning number of high-end luxury car aficionados in India.

The SL 350 could turn out to be one of the favourite sports cars. Coming with a high-accelerating 3.5-litre V6 sports engine, the SL 350 is propelled by 315 hp power and torque of 360 Nm.

This is simply mind blowing and will surely make the SL 350 among the top performing cars in India.

The SL 350 has direct steering with variable servo assistance that whittles down the need to turn the wheel and makes it more agile.

The GL 500 4MATIC is powered by a 5.4-litre V6 engine that produces a power of 388 hp along with an awesome torque of 530 Nm.

The GL 500 accelerates from zero to 100 km per hour in 6.5 seconds only, owing to its light weight construction that results in enhanced engine smoothness and higher torque in the mid-engine speed range.

Now, the small cars that Merc is bringing, fall in the A- and B-Class segment and are surely going to help the car giant surge ahead of BMW and also German luxury cars major Audi.

“We are speaking with our German office to drive in smaller cars in the A- and B-Class range that are likely to have a great market potential in India,” Honegg said.

The A-Class, which is a mini multi-purpose car, is Mercedes Benz’s entry-level car in many world markets and the B-Class is a small family car that is propelled by the same engine and suspension system.

The luxury cars market in the country has been growing at a rapid pace of over 75 per cent and surging income of India’s middle class is helping drive this growth.

In fact, India has pipped China in luxury car sales growth. Although we in India may give ourselves a pat and call it an achievement, the number of luxury cars sold in India is way below China.

Even as Mercedes-Benz forays into the small or compact cars segment, it is well known that DaimlerChrysler, the company that makes the Mercedes-Benz range of cars, will keep prices on the steeper side, although the cars are likely to be a class apart.

So, will this strategy of high price and high quality work for Merc in the small cars market in India, which is highly price-sensitive?