June 28, 2014: Mercedes-Benz is deliberately trying for a make-over from being a premium status symbol for old men segment to more for a young and vibrant crowd of India. It seems that the company is trying to negate the advantage their rivals Audi and BMW got in Indian market in segments especially aged below 35 years. Mercedes has made it clear that they will be focusing on their compact car A and B class models.
The company sources reported that they will be launching A3 sedan model soon and then will follow it up with hatchback and cabriolet versions subsequently. The brand attributes being built with their A and B class models are trendy, high performance and comes with attractive price tags too. This is primarily targeted at youth and women segments as Mercs is no longer considered as a premium chauffeur driven old mans car. The new focus of compact cars has already helped Merecedes to gain 20% market share in this segment, with a total sales of around 25000 units.
As it was reported earlier luxury car segment is the one which has shown reasonable growth in India, Mercedes is setting its eyes to gain a bigger share of new buyers in the luxury segment with this attractively priced compact models. BMW with its X1 series also has a successful stint in this market. It is clear that compact luxury cars are in demand now and players are setting their strategies to expand this market and gain their market share.
