India’s top-most luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz is set to expand its retail network in the country with two new outlets – one on Linking Road, in Mumbai’s Bandra, and the second outlet in the national capital’s West Delhi region. The two showrooms will be inaugurated later this month.
The company intends to tap into the growth opportunity in the luxury car segment in the country which is currently the fastest-growing economy in the world, with these outlets. For instance, in Q1 CY24, Mercedes-Benz India recorded its best-ever quarterly performance, clocking 5,412 units, registering a 15 percent growth compared to the previous year.
The two new retail outlets, one each in India’s financial capital and the national capital, will be based on the company’s MAR 20X retail format, which emphasises upon smaller-footprint showroom spaces that lead by design, digital enhancements, as well as get a hospitality corner, and boutique display. According to Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, “We are bringing these ‘experience outlets’ which will focus on our top-end vehicles (TEVs) like the Maybach and other car lines from our portfolio. These are going to be our latest sales outlets in Delhi and Mumbai, which are our biggest markets in the country.”
“While these new outlets will display three- to four models from our top-end portfolio, customers will be provided with other cars as well as per their demand,” he said. As Mercedes-Benz India anticipates strong double-digit growth in the country’s luxury car segment, which is set to grow higher than the mainstream car market in FY25, the company is also gearing to expand its service network in the country.
Mercedes-Benz India is set to open two new workshops in Gurugram in Delhi-NCR, and is targeting to open a total of 20 new outlets across 10 cities in CY24. Over the next 8-9 months, the company is aiming to open customer touchpoints in cities like Jammu, Kottayam, Vapi, and Patna, among others. “As our car parc is increasing, we are also significantly expanding our service network, with the idea that no customer should need to drive more than two hours to reach a workshop. Therefore, we want to be as close to the customer as possible,” Iyer said.