Mercedes-Benz India cruises to double-digit growth as demand for luxury cars rises

New Delhi, (IANS): Mercedes-Benz India is on course to close the current year with a double-digit jump in sales, fuelled by the rising demand for luxury cars in a fast-growing economy, the company’s managing director Santosh Iyer has said.

Mercedes-Benz India has now launched its new 'AMG C 63 S E PERFORMANCE' model equipped with F1 hybrid technology priced at Rs 1.95 crore. This is the company's 14th product launch this year, aimed at driving up sales volumes of its high-end vehicles which are priced upwards of Rs 1.5 crore.

Speaking to reporters at the launch, Iyer said that the festive season brought the company’s best sales figures, reflecting the strength of the auto major’s performance in a fiercely competitive and fluctuating market.

In the July-to-September quarter, sales of Mercedes-Benz India accelerated by 21% over the same period of the previous year amid an overall slowing auto market. He highlighted that the company has been experiencing substantial growth despite the challenges facing the automotive industry.

Iyer said the company plans to complete conversion of all of its existing 100 outlets under the direct-to-consumer model over the next year or so. He claimed that the new marketing strategy has helped to cut the country’s inventory costs.

The increase in luxury car sales also underscores the rising incomes of the upper middle class with the Indian economy emerging as the fastest growing economy in the world. This also reflected in the higher number of income tax payers in the above Rs 1 crore earnings segment.Figures compiled by the Income Tax department show that more than 9.54 lakh people with income of Rs 1 crore and above filed their returns until October 31 this year. The number has jumped more than 3-fold from 2.89 lakh tax payers in the country in the Rs 1 crore and above bracket five years ago. Mercedes-Benz India cruises to double-digit growth as demand for luxury cars rises | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
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Hyundai Motor pips Volkswagen to become world's 2nd-largest automaker


Hyundai Motor Group has outperformed Volkswagen Group to become the world's second-largest automaker in terms of operating profit, industry data showed on Thursday.

According to automotive industry data, Hyundai Motor Group achieved sales of 69.4 trillion won ($49.6 billion) and an operating profit of 6.5 trillion won during the third quarter.

For the period from January to September, the South Korean automaker's cumulative sales reached 208.9 trillion won, while operating profit was recorded at 21.4 trillion won, reports Yonhap news agency.

In terms of operating profit alone, Hyundai Motor Group ranked second among global competitors after Toyota Group.

The Japanese automaker reported an operating profit of 1.15 trillion yen ($7.4 billion) for the third quarter. and an operating profit of 32.4 trillion won for the January-September period.

For the third quarter, Volkswagen Group has reported an operating profit of 4.3 trillion won. For the first nine-month period, Volkswagen's operating profit stood at 19.36 trillion won.

With Volkswagen Group facing challenges in the Chinese market, many industry watchers see Hyundai Motor Group as being poised to secure the No. 2 position in terms of operating profit after Toyota Group for the entirety of 2024.

Hyundai Motor Group, however, is likely to take some time before surpassing Volkswagen Group in global sales volume.

From January to September this year, Hyundai Motor Group sold 5.4 million units worldwide, maintaining its position as the third-largest automaker, following Toyota Group at 7.18 million units and Volkswagen Group at 6.5 million units.

"Operating profit, in addition to sales volume, is a crucial performance indicator in the auto industry," Kim Pil-soo, an automotive professor at Daelim University, said. "Hyundai Motor Group is performing well despite an overall decline in vehicle demand affected by the so-called EV chasm affecting the industry. Source: https://morungexpress.com/hyundai-motor-pips-volkswagen-to-become-worlds-2nd-largest-automaker
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India auto sales cross 24.3 lakh units in July, two-wheelers post 12.4 pc growth

Mumbai, (IANS): The total production of passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and quadricycle reached 24,37,138 units in July, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data showed on Wednesday.

Passenger vehicles sales were 3,41,510, three-wheeler sales were 59,073 units and two-wheeler sales reached 14,41,694 units.

Two-wheeler segment posted a decent growth of 12.5 per cent in July compared to the same month last year.

“The above average rainfall coupled with upcoming festive season is likely to again propel growth in the short term. In addition, enabling budget announcements which emphasizes on overall economic growth with fiscal support for infrastructure and rural sector should augur well for the auto sector in the medium term,” said Vinod Aggarwal, President, SIAM.

In July 2024, passenger vehicle segment de-grew compared to July 2023, posting sales of about 3.42 lakh units.

“Three Wheelers posted a growth of 5.1 per cent compared to July last year, with sales of 0.59 Lakh units in July 2024, which is close to the peak of 2018-19,” said Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM.

Another industry report last week said that India is projected to surpass China this year to become the world’s largest two-wheeler (2W) market, driven by robust economic growth, consumer preference for 2Ws for short-distance commutes, and increasing 2W demand in the shared mobility space.

The electric E2W market is also growing at a rapid clip, with 2024 sales penetration expected to be 1.5 times that of four-wheeler passenger EVs, according to Counterpoint Research. The 2W market is heading towards maturity, but the adoption of electrification is expected to rise significantly, particularly after 2025.Among the top 10, three E2W brands are from India -- Ola Electric, TVS Motor and Ather Energy -- reflecting India’s emerging presence in the E2W market. Ola and Ather are also greenfield “EV-first” 2W companies challenging the incumbents such as TVS, Hero and Bajaj, said the report. India auto sales cross 24.3 lakh units in July, two-wheelers post 12.4 pc growth | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
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