Mercedes Benz Launches the New M Class
The carmaker is trying to regain its appeal to successful young professionals, who make up the fastest growing market in the luxury car segment in India
Image: Amit Verma
For Mercedes Benz, Auto Expo 2012 was a good opportunity, given its attempt to appear young and cool, an image it has lost to Audi and BMW. Here was an opportunity to launch cool new models, with the power and style that affluent young Indians crave.
And it did just that. During the launch of the new M Class, it got Chetan Bhagat, Irfan Pathan and Farhan Akhtar on one stage. Starting with the M Class, it also unveiled the uber-cool SLS AMG Roadster and the new concept A.
For Mercedes, it is important to regain the cool image. With BMW beating it in the annual sales sweepstakes, and Audi closing in, Mercedes has found itself becoming the car that the rich dad or uncle buys—but not the fast-rising, successful young professional. And that market is the fastest growing in India in the luxury segment.
At around the same time, another car company that faces the same image straightjacket as Mercedes, the Jaguar, also showcased a fresh new model that looked both young and powerful. The way ahead is going to be very competitive for Mercedes.
Another way it thought of getting more people in its stalls was by allowing all to get in, unlike BMW and Audi which allowed only media people to get in during the first two days. The launch event was packed to capacity. Looking around I think Mercedes would have been happy to see that most of the people in there were young. They were cheering and whistling as popular stars came on stage and that continued when the new cars were unveiled. But at the same time, it reduced the exclusivity of the event and ultimately the media had a hard time covering it.
The company also chose not to bring in the A class now, as was rumoured earlier, and instead came in with its best known models. Mercedes’ planned launch of the GLC, the relatively low-cost SUV, will however happen only by 2013, by when Audi would have launched its Q3. The Q3 will drive down the starting range for Audi SUVs, something like what the new X1 did for BMW. In fact, in 2011, X1 sales resulted in BMW comfortably holding on to the Number One position—it made luxury affordable for thousands more, though its basic version does not have many of the features that the X series is known for. Mercedes Benz India will need a model that can be similarly successful.
The year ahead will be crucial to see whether Mercedes’s new youth icons can make a difference to its image.
