Reference Auto

Mercedes Benz has fallen to the third place in the Indian luxury cars market (a few years ago it was in the number one slot) after Audi and BMW and Merc desperately needed an ad blitz to boost its sagging image so it brought in tennis star Boris Becker to roll out its luxury SUV, the new GL 350 CDI BlueEfficiency, which has been priced at a steep Rs 77.5 lakh (showroom price in Delhi).

The GL-Class cars of Mercedes Benz are constantly evolving and the latest model has been packed with a lot more luxury and comes with great looks.

The new GL 350 CDI BlueEfficiency car is a limited edition model with only 100 cars on offer and all of these cars could be lapped in just a few months.

The purpose clearly is to give the sagging Mercedes Benz brand in India a facelift and bring it back among the top two luxury carmakers.

Audi had recently scaled the top position in the luxury cars market, leaving BMW and Mercedes in the second and third slots respectively.

Mercedes Benz has made some improvements in this GL model. It not only managed to raise the output and torque by up to 20 per cent over the previous car, but also whittled down fuel consumption and CO2 emission on the new GL 350 CDI 4MATIC by nearly 15%.

Embedded with the latest technology, the 3.0 litre V6 diesel engine on the new GL 350 CDI BlueEfficiency 4MATIC belts out 258 PS and 620 Nm torque. The standard specification ECO start/stop functions automatically, paving the way for the engine to be temporarily switched off when the vehicle is standing on a traffic junction.

The new GL-Class car also comes with a litany of new driver assist and safety technologies such as Crosswind Assist, Trailer Stability Assist and Downhill Speed Regulation or DSR system in order to enhance performance even during inclement driving conditions.

These are rare and unique safety features the luxury car maker is offering, and is a big factor which determines sales of cars in the premium segment.

Mercedes Benz India is eyeing double digit growth this year from the 7,138 car sales it logged in the previous year.

The German luxury car major assembles models such as the S-Class, E-Class, C-Class and ML-Class while models like the GL-Class, CLS-Class and SLK-Class are fully imported.

So, just when Mercedes Benz fell to third place after Audi and BMW, it is desperate to make a comeback and occupy the top two positions and so it has brought its brand ambassador Boris Becker to roll out a limited edition of the GL 350 CDI so that it evinces the interest of premium buyers, who may see this as an opportunity to pick up a limited edition Merc.