Both the German car makers are vying heavily to mark their supremacy in the Indian luxury auto segment. BMW and Mercedes are both coming up with new models and schemes to lure in the rich and the superfluous in India. BMW recently beat Mercedes for past two months but Mercedes remains unperturbed. "With the launch of the new 3-Series, they pushed the older version of the model with heavy discounts. So in that sense, we are not worried about their performance," Wilfried Aulbur, CEO & MD of Mercedes-Benz India.
Aulbur also stated that the company did not believe in pushing the numbers or stuffing inventories at the dealerships. "In our model of business, everybody needs to win, including the dealers... Therefore, you have to find a medium between what a dealer can do and what a manufacturer can do. Otherwise, you run into a situation where you burn your partners (dealers) more than you should."
On the other hand, BMW President holds a completely different point of view. "We at BMW India are prepared to meet challenges head on and ensure our company's success for the future. We are able to do this because we invest in our brand, we focus on our customers and we actively invest to shape our future... We are the segment leaders worldwide with the BMW brand and we want to become the number one in India too," he stated.
