Mercedes-Benz India today announced a revision in its ex-showroom prices of a few models in its India lineup by about two per cent. The step was taken by the luxury carmaker after witnessing the weakening of the Rupee in comparison to the Euro over the past six to seven months, and the result of the hike will come into effect from the first week of October.
The carmaker has also come up with various campaigns to revive customer interest towards the brand. Campaigns like “Unlock with Mercedes-Benz” featuring options to own a C-Class at EMIs starting at Rs 39,999, an E-Class at Rs 49,999, and a GLC at Rs 44,444 with complimentary first-year insurance are currently underway to draw the interest of prospective customers.
Also, the luxury carmaker offers various tailor-made financial schemes for the aspiring customers at a rate of interest which is as low as 7.99 per cent which is almost 40 per cent lower than the other finance options available in the market and allows them to avail this finance option from with a pre-approval within thirty minutes.
Speaking about a sudden price hike in the ex-showroom prices, Martin Schwenk, MD and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said, “As the leading luxury carmaker in India, it remains our endeavour to offer the latest products, best technologies, service and ownership experience to our customers. However, the weakening of the currency since the beginning of the year, combined with a sharp increase in the input costs have been a matter of concern, creating significant pressure on our bottom line.”
“To offset these costs and drive sustainable business, we have a few options but we need to make some nominal yet necessary price adjustments. We, as a customer-centric brand, will be absorbing most of the impact, however, passing on a portion of it up to 2 per cent seems inevitable.”
He further added, “Despite the nominal price revision, our specially designed financial programmes like Wish Box 2.0 and a host of service packages will enable discerning customers to drive home their favourite Mercedes-Benz and enjoy the vehicle ownership associated with Mercedes.”
As for now, we can only say the price hike in ex-showroom prices must not have been an easy decision for Mercedes-Benz, as the luxury carmaker has always shown efforts towards satisfying customers with new and innovative technologies, or by offering highly affordable service packages, giving customers an after-sales benefit also even in the third or fourth year of car purchase.