The Indian automotive industry that has been on reverse gear for a while, has now been recently sparked back into life by several new model launches this year. Indian subsidiary of Honda Motors is riding high on the success of Amaze, while Mercedes-Benz sits happily over the launch of its much anticipated A-Class compact car. The A-Class has gone on to become the biggest success for the German car maker by clocking highest bookings order ever its history in the Indian market. Also, the domestic subsidiary of General Motor launched its Sail and Enjoy to keep volume coming in.
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India, Jnaneshwar Sen, quoted, “It always happens with a good product that hits the sweet spot in the market — it helps spark consumer interest and ignites the market. New models increase interest levels and resultant showroom footfalls and even if the potential customers don't buy the new model, they often end up buying something else.”
The Japanese car maker recently launched Amaze sedan, three months ago, which clocked sales around 2000, 5000 and 6000 units in March, April and May, respectively. This humongous success of the model has compelled the car maker to fast track the construction of its new manufacturing plant at Tapukara in Alwar, Rajasthan. The move is also necessary as the new car sits tight on an at least four to five months of waiting period and demands additional production capacity. Similar success is being tasted by the Mercedes-Benz A-Class as well, which has managed over 400 bookings within just ten days of its launch.
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mercedes-Benz India, Eberhard Kern, said “We are in discussion with the headquarters in Germany for more allocation of this model and we are looking at double-digit growth, both in the second quarter of the calendar as well as for the entire year.” According to Kern, the success of the compact car is a historic high for the car manufacturer.
The German car maker is also gearing up to launch the facelifted E-Class and diesel version of the B-Class soon, which will only bring in more volumes. A-Class has not been the only model to have struck gold as soon as it was launched. The GL-Class that was launched some time ago also witnessed quick sale of its high-spec, all-import launch edition of which only 100 units were made available for INR 77.5 lakh a piece. With several new launches in the pipeline and recent success of the new launches, it is safe to assume that 2013 is going to be a gala time for car makers having new model launches in their kitty.
