Things are not quite all hunky-dory at Mercedes Benz India. BMW and Audi are fast catching up in terms of sales and brand value. And now Mercedes has come up with a solution…a CNG variant of the new E-Class. Yes, you heard it right, a CNG E-Class to compete with the Auto-Rikshwas in the streets of New Delhi. The very idea of lower fuel consumption (admittedly an impressive 18 km a kg) appealing to the customer who has to shell out…wait for it, more than 90 Lakh rupees for the car is appalling. The almost double the normal price comes from the fact that Mercedes has to import the cars after paying a 104% tax. In fact, even if Mercedes starts producing them India and prices them around the normal 45 Lakhs, I do not see many people opting for this variant.
Also, the ‘green-celebrity’ thing that worked so well for the Toyota Prius in the US will probably not help Mercedes as green awareness is pretty low in India and all people care about is the 3 – pointed star in the front, not the smoke coming out of the back. The new E-Class has got the caliber to fight of the 5 series and A6 on its own and does not need such gimmicks to help push sales. Now if only, Mercedes could shake off the old-man’s car image and appeal to a broader section of the demographic like BMW, it may well stop the rut.
