Targeting Young Executives, This Is Mercedes-Benz's Strategy For The Indian Market

Mercedes-Benz GLS 450 SUV. (Doc. Mercedes-Benz AG)

JAKARTA - Not only BMW will focus on the Indian market in 2024 by immediately launching the latest generation Series-5, another Bavarian manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has also expressed its focus through factory investments and launched models targeting young executive consumers.

According to a Reuters report on Monday, January 8, Mercedes-Benz will invest $ 24 million or the equivalent of IDR 371.9 billion for manufacturing operations in Pune, West India and launch more than a dozen new vehicles according to market demand.

Santosh Iyer, CEO of India's Mercedes-Benz, said more than half of the latest launches of the car with the silver' logo are high-end vehicles, which have a price tag above $180,000.

There is a growing customer profile, the demographics are changing at this time. There are many aspirations from the younger generation who excel to immediately enter the upper class luxury segment," said Iyer.

In India, Mercedes-Benz car consumers are dominated by business owners, but consumers from professional circles have also increased since the pre-COVID-19 pandemic, which is 12-14 percent with an average age of 38 years.

Mercedes-Benz also managed to sell 17,408 vehicles in 2023 in India, an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year in line with the high demand for luxury SUVs.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz intends to open more after-sales services in several cities they have not reached, such as Udaipur, Amritsar, and Agra, in order to develop future expansions.

In addition to launching the recent GLS 450 SUV, the company intends to launch three new electric vehicle (EV) models in the continental nation. The launch was driven by EV sales of Mercedes-Benz which also reached 4 percent of the total.