Mercedes-Benz has always prided itself with a credo that stated “The best, or nothing”, and as of 2019, the luxury car manufacturer has revamped their motto to “Best never rest”. This could not have come at a more apt time, as Mercedes-Benz has officially been in India for a quarter of a century! Not just that, the past year was doubly lucky for them, as their recorded sales figure was the highest ever, at 15,538 units sold.
This comes as a bracing wind in the German giant’s sails, as 2018 was the second consecutive year that sales crossed the 15,000 unit mark, and the fourth consecutive year that Mercedes maintained as much as 40 per cent market share, a dominant lead above the nearest competitor, giving Mercedes-Benz de facto leadership in the luxury segment. The Long wheelbase E-Class was the highest selling model in Mercedes’ portfolio in 2018, whereas the GLC was its highest selling SUV.
Despite the hype, Mercedes-Benz maintains a cautiously optimistic view with regards to 2019, keeping in mind, no doubt, strong product offensive with as many as 10 new products planned across the range for 2019, besides the new GLE SUV which is already projected to be a volume driver. For our test drive review of the Mercedes-Benz GLE, click here
Lastly, Mercedes-Benz plans to keep rocking the boat, with plans to create a new segment, christened the ‘Versatile Luxury Tourer’ with the launch of the V-Class in India.
words by Sudipto Chaudhury