News: Daimler unfazed by BMW’s India plan

(TT 25/03/2006) Chennai - Welcoming competition in the premium car segment, DaimlerChrysler today said BMW’s plan to set up an assembly plant in India would not pose any threat to the German auto maker.

Unveiling the latest edition of the Mercedes S-Class and the M-Class at the Brand Showcase event here, Daimler’s India CEO Wilfried Aulbur said “competition will only help the automobile market to grow.”

The new offerings from the Daimler stable are a mastery of technology, providing greater safety and comfort to its users, Aulbur said.

The M-Class sports a price tag of Rs 56 lakh, while the price for the S-Class ranges from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1.25 crore.

Brand Showcase is featuring the complete range of Mercedes-Benz cars in India — the debutante S-Class, the E-Class, the C-Class, as well as the completely-built imported range like the SLK-Class, the CLS-Class and the M-Class.

Also featuring at the show is the stately Maybach.

The south is becoming a fast growing market for Mercedes-Benz cars, with strong sales being reported from cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad, Aulbur said.

The ultimate car from the Daimler stable — the Maybach —- is a “statement of perfection in automobile engineering” and is the only customised car being sold now, he said.

Each Maybach costs a whopping Rs 5.25 crore and only two cars have been sold so far in India to two top industrialists. Daimler is also seeing an increase in demand from non-metro cities such as Kochi, Coimbatore and Madurai, Aulbur added.

While DaimlerChrysler India has an assembly plant in Pune, there is no plan to build another, Aulbur said.

According to Daimler officials, the age profile of the Merc customer is changing with young entrepreneurs, IT professionals and successful businessmen getting attracted to the brand.