Reference Auto

The niche luxury SUV market in India is still at its budding stage and Mercedes-Benz has decided to bring in one of its high-end SUVs of the G-Class series, the G 55 AMG, priced at Rs 1.1 crore (ex-showroom Mumbai). At that price, the G 55 AMG is India’s costliest SUV.

The G 55 AMG is the top-end model in the G-Class and is equipped with a supercharged 5.5-litre V8-engine that develops 373 kW/507 hp and a maximum torque of 700 Nm.

Despite the cost, the initial response has been overwhelming for the G 55 AMG.

Debashis Mitra, director, sales and marketing, of Mercedes-Benz India, said, “Even before we launched it officially, we already have 15 bookings of the G 55 AMG.”

He added all those who booked had paid in full and the vehicle, to be imported from the company’s Stuttgart plant in Germany, will be delivered to them by the end of the month. The imported vehicles will come with a 102 per cent duty, he stated.

Mercedes-Benz claims that the G 55 AMG is the world’s best SUV. Mitra said, “Among luxury SUVs around the world, there’s none that can match the power, speed and luxury of the G 55 AMG.”

Even industry experts give a thumbs up to Mercedes-Benz’s SUV. According to them, it even trumps the Land Rover’s Range Rover and Porsche Cayenne SUV.

The G 55 AMG SUV is an all-terrain vehicle with the highest standards in terms of safety, comfort, speed and performance, Mitra said. The safety features are so advanced that the G 55 AMG is considered fit for the Pope’s travel, he added.

“With such features, the Mercedes-Benz SUV has the highest performance and can accelerate from zero to 100 kmph in 5.5 seconds. It has an electronically limited top speed of 210 kmph,” he said.

The car is believed to be extremely stable in very high speeds and can climb a steep incline with ease.

Mitra added the G 55 AMG was rated the best SUV in 2010 in Germany by auto journalists for the seventh time and is built on the concept of “one-top-class engineer-one-handcrafted-engine-bearing-his-signature.”

Earlier, Mercedes-Benz had been known for its C-Class, E-Class and S-Class luxury cars.

Mitra said, “But in the last couple of years, we launched SUVs like the M-Class at Rs 48 lakh and GL-Class for Rs 65 lakh in the country. We have grown fast in the luxury SUV market.”

According to the car maker, the G-Class has been the longest serving passenger car for more than three decades in Mercedes-Benz’s 125-year-old history.

Last year, the luxury SUV market in India saw a growth of 54 per cent but Mercedes-Benz logged 197 per cent growth with sales of over 600 vehicles, Mitra said.

The G 55 comes with Mercedes-Benz’s high quality Comand vehicle interface system, Bi-xenon headlamps, corner-illuminating front foglights and scratch-resistant nano-particle paint finish. But the design of the car is a tad disappointing.

Mercedes-Benz has opened up a new segment, the high-end luxury category, and this could excite high net worth individuals who may want to flock for the G 55 AMG.