The Indian arm of Mercedes-Benz German Luxury car manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz India has revised its sales growth expectations from the earlier projected 15-20 percent to 5-10 percent. This is being attributed to the overall sales slowdown in the Indian automobile industry caused by various reasons such high petrol price, high interest rates and increase in excise duties.
According to Mr. Peter Honegg Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mercedes-Benz India, the company had been bullish for 15-20 percent growth at the beginning of the fiscal. The slowdown in the industry and the low sales growth has however compelled the company to face facts. He also stated that the increase in the import duties on completely built units (CBU) has affected the price of the luxury cars raising the prices by 30 percent.
The company may also consider increasing the production of the diesel versions of car models and reducing the production of the petrol versions. Mr. Honegg states that the company will restructure the production ratio of diesel and petrol cars with respect to the changes made by the government in the excise duty structure.