'We expect this festival buying spirit to continue in October as well, with upcoming festivities including Dhanteras and Diwali, which traditionally witness spirited buying from customers.'
Mercedes-Benz India, the country’s highest selling luxury car brand, saw its highest-ever Navratri retail sales of more than 2,500 cars during the nine-day festival.
According to the company, reduction in goods and services tax (GST) rates boosted consumer sentiment.
This has also led to the best ever September monthly sales for the company as well as the highest ever Q2 sales at 5,119 units.
September sales grew by 36 per cent, while Q2FY26 sales growth was flattish as the first two months of the quarter saw decline in sales.
"The reduction in GST rates has certainly improved customer sentiment with its appropriate timing. Car prices are increasing owing to macroeconomic challenges like adverse forex movement and rising operational cost, among others.
"We hope this buoyant spirit sustains for the remaining festival season, as we continue to observe market trends closely, remaining cautiously optimistic,” said Santosh Iyer, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Mercedes-Benz India.
July and August saw sales decline, and after August 15, sales virtually came to a standstill as customers held back purchases.
Iyer said that rebounding after that and ending with the best-ever quarterly sales was a big achievement.
Mercedes has passed on the entire GST benefit to customers, which resulted in an average price reduction of 6 per cent.
The outlook for the overall year does not change much.
Mercedes had forecast a flattish year for 2025 earlier, and the company has also taken three price hikes so far during the year due to forex rate fluctuations and rise in input costs.
"We are closely observing the situation and we will take a call on prices for next year around December,” Iyer added.
Between April and September 2025, Mercedes sold 9,357 units in India, which is up 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
He said, “We expect this festival buying spirit to continue in October as well, with upcoming festivities including Dhanteras and Diwali, which traditionally witness spirited buying from customers. While there was strong demand across the portfolio, we recorded the highest-ever monthly sales for key products like the Long Wheelbase EClass, GLC, GLE, GLS and G63 AMG SUVs.”
The top-end luxury segment continued to do well in Q2 with a 12 per cent Y-o-Y growth.
Top-end vehicles constitute nearly 25 per cent of Mercedes's overall sales.
Demand for hyper-personalisation and customisation is high in the top-end vehicle segment comprising the GLS, S-Class, Mercedes-Maybach and AMG G63, among others.
Mercedes-Benz’s 'manufaktur’ range, offering personalised selection of high-quality equipment, exclusive appointments and craftsmanship, comprises 75 per cent of all top-end luxury vehicles sold in India.
AMG G 63 also registered its highest-ever monthly sales despite a waiting period of more than six months.
The 'core segment’ or cars between ₹65 lakh and ₹1.2 crore grew by 10 per cent in Q2. It comprises cars like the E-Class, GLC, GLE SUVs, and constitutes 60 per cent of Mercedes’s overall sales.
The large wheelbase E-Class is the highest-selling luxury car in India with a 47 per cent growth for the luxury sedan in Q2 FY26, the company claimed.
The entry luxury portfolio, which comprises the A-class sedan and the GLA SUV, saw a decline in Q2FY26 as the market was dominated by products available at lower price points, Mercedes said.
GLA has come below ₹50 lakh now with GST reduction, which should help it grow further.
Battery electric vehicles (EVs) constitute 8 per cent of overall sales, and EV portfolio grew by 10 per cent, with highest-ever sales seen for the EQS SUV.
The top-end G 580 Edition 1 with EQ Technology is already sold out for the year and bookings are now open for the next slot of deliveries.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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