Luxury car majors post robust growth

Mercedes said the strong sales growth is aided by the young product portfolio comprising new generation cars. (Representative Image)

Luxury car makers have reported a robust growth in the first half of 2018 (Jan-June). While market leader Mercedes-Benz reported a 12.4 per cent growth in its first-half sales to 8,061 units (7,171 units), its other German counterpart BMW India group registered a growth of 13 per cent in the same period to 5,171 units.

Mercedes-Benz said that the strong sales growth in January-June 2018 is aided by the most comprehensive and young product portfolio comprising the new generation cars, the sedans, the SUVs and the AMG performance cars. During the first half of the year, customers continued their preferences for the E-Class long-wheelbase sedan, which remains a success story for the Indian market. The launch of S-Class also enabled Mercedes-Benz to cater to the increasing demand of this segment benchmark luxury business sedan. Similarly, the C-Class continues to remain on top of customer preference.

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For BMW, the higher sale in the first half of 2018 has been predominantly driven by the Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) segment which has grown over 26 per cent as compared to the same period in 2017. The all-new BMW X3 launched recently has led growth of the segment with over 60 per cent growth compared to January-June 2017. FE