Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz said it has sold 9,915 units during the January-September 2019 period, even with strong macroeconomic challenges during the previous quarters.
The sales were down 15.89 per cent compared to the same period last year, when it had sold 11,789 units.
The carmaker, however, said it is confident of its sales performance and firmly maintaining its lead in the luxury auto segment. It added that it will continue its product offensive from Q4 to take advantage of high customer interest and positive sentiment.
The German carmaker’s long wheelbase E-Class was the bestselling model from the brand, while the demand for C-Class sedan was high, along with models like GLC and GLS.
“On the back of strong September performance, we have already crossed the 10,000 units mark in the first week of October, and are confident of maintaining this growth momentum by leveraging the upbeat customer sentiment.
"Of particular satisfaction has been the 160 per cent growth in the Dream Cars segment, which once again underlines the luxury customers’ strong faith in the three-pointed star. We are hopeful and expect sales to rise slightly in the full year,” said Martin Schwenk, managing director and chief executive officer, Mercedes-Benz India.
Schwenk said the company expects sales to rise slightly in the full year. “Our market performance in September has been backed by the introduction of innovative and customer-centric mobility solutions like Wishbox, and also by the varied support measures we have taken for our dealer partners,” he added.
For the full year 2018, Mercedes-Benz reported 1.4 per cent increase in its sales in India with a record 15,538 units.
Moreover, 2018 was also the second consecutive year when the carmaker breached the 15,000 units mark. Nevertheless, analysts feel that it would be an uphill task for the carmaker to see growth in the current calendar year as market sentiment continues to remain negative.
The carmaker, however, managed to achieve a unique feat during the ongoing festival season. The company on Tuesday said it has delivered over 200 cars of various models to customers in Mumbai, Gujarat and other cities in a single day as part of the festival sales.
Mercedes-Benz delivered over 125 cars, the highest ever, to customers on Dussehra in Mumbai and another 74 cars to customers in Gujarat during the Navratri festival, it said.