Demand For Company’s Sedans Remain Strong: Mercedes Benz India CEO Santosh Iyer

The recent GLC launch is estimated to increased the SUVs share in the company’s overall sales to 55-57 per cent.

Iyer further noted that according to industry estimates, SUVs now contribute about 47 per cent to the overall Indian passenger cars market, up from 22 per cent five years ago. ( Image Source :Getty )

Sedans are still in strong demand, stated Mercedes Benz India’s managing director and CEO Santosh Iyer on Wednesday. The luxury car maker asserted that despite SUVs being in major demand across the Indian passenger cars market, the company is seeing strong demand still for it’s sedan variants. 

According to a report by PTI, Iyer noted that the company estimates SUV share in it’s overall sales to be slightly skewed due to the latest launch of it’s GLC SUV model. He added, “Fortunately our portfolio is a balanced sedan-SUV portfolio. We have the A Class, the B Class, the E Class, and the S Class in sedan and then we have mirrored that in the SUV portfolio with a GLA, GLC, GLE, and GLS. Right now the share of sedans versus SUVs is almost 48:52.”

The recent GLC launch is estimated to increased the SUVs share in the company’s overall sales to 55-57 per cent. Reasserting the demand for the company’s sedans, he added, “A 50 per cent share of around 8,500 (total) in the first half, I would say nearly 4,500 customers still bought sedans in the first half (of 2023).”

The car maker recorded a 13 per cent growth in sales at 8,528 units, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in first half of the year. This marked the best half-yearly sales growth for the company. Iyer noted that the company expects sedans to be in strong demand and said, “The E Class still remains the largest selling car in our portfolio and that is a sedan by a far margin. That clearly shows with the right product in the right segment you still can sell irrespective of the body type. The focus is to give those product configurations and options to the market.” 

Iyer further noted that according to industry estimates, SUVs now contribute about 47 per cent to the overall Indian passenger cars market, up from 22 per cent five years ago. He further stressed the need to maintain a balanced portfolio to be able to cater to both sides of market requirements. 

 Explaining the popularity of SUVs, Iyer said that the larger road presence of the cars attract customers, “but on the other side when it comes to sheer driving comfort as well as travelling comfort there is nothing to beat a sedan”, as reported by PTI.