Daimler entered the Indian market and established Mercedes-Benz India Ltd in 1994. The company was renamed DaimlerChrysler India Pvt. Ltd. after the merger of the parent company Daimler with Chrysler.The first mercedes in india was bought and owned by Rakesh Kumar Agrawal who also owned convey printers the largest printing press in Asia. After DaimlerChrysler demerged from Chrysler in 2007, it changed its name to Daimler AG. As a result, DaimlerChrysler India was renamed Mercedes-Benz India once again. Mercedes-Benz India is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Daimler AG. Mercedes-Benz India pioneered the luxury car market in India. The company is headquartered in Chakan, Pune, Maharashtra. Mercedes-Benz was recognised as India's Most Admired Company in a survey by Fortune India magazine in 2013 under the reign of former Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Peter Honegg. In 2015 the brand was adjudged Economic Times' Brand Equity's, 'India's Most Exciting Brand' and topped the survey in automotive four-wheeler category. The company has received the highest rank in the J.D. Power 2018 India Customer Service Index study in the luxury car segment.
Manufacturing facilities
Spread over 100 acres at Chakan, Maharashtra, this plant was set up in 2015 and is among the fastest green-field operations ever to be created and is rated as one of the top-most CKD plants of Mercedes-Benz globally.
Mercedes-Benz India has built brand awareness through a series of consumer-centric engagement events in India. These include MercedesTrophy and Drive Events like AMG Driving Academy and Luxe Drive.
MercedesTrophy
The MercedesTrophy is an international three-tier structured amateur golf series where amateur golfers compete to qualify for the MercedesTrophy World Final in Stuttgart. In 2014, the 15th edition of MercedesTrophy India, witnessed participation from over 2,500 golfing aficionados in 13 cities.
AMG Driving Academy
This driving academy assists customers to hone their driving skills in performance cars in the country's only F1 race track at Greater Noida. The ADA offers the ‘Basic’ and the Advanced course in India. The ADA was inaugurated in 2012.
International Driving Platform
Motoring enthusiasts get an opportunity to drive the high-performance AMG cars on ice and challenging international locations.
In a series of ‘firsts’, Mercedes-Benz India launched its first made-in-India TVC for the Long Wheel BaseE-Class marking the launch of the luxury Marque's first Made in India, for India Sedan.
Mercedes-Benz established its largest research & development center outside Germany with the launch of its Bangalore R&D center in 1996. MBRDI with its location in Bangalore and Pune shows Daimler's strong commitment to India as a location for production, R&D and for IT. MBRDI is Daimler's "Think Tank" in India. Currently 6,500 engineers and IT-specialists are employed by MBRDI.
Sales and Service network
Mercedes-Benz India currently has the widest network reach for any luxury car maker in India, in 47 cities with 96 outlets. Mercedes-Benz also inaugurated in three AMG Performance Centres in Delhi, Bangalore & Mumbai in 2014 and added two more APCs in 2015 in Hyderabad and Pune. and two more APCs in 2017 in Chennai and Cochin. These APCs provide an exclusive AMG brand experience to the customers and enthusiasts. In 2014, the company reportedly witnessed a growth in sales of about 13% at 10,201 units as compared to the previous year. The company expects a double digit growth in 2015 owing to qualitative network expansion strategy. Mercedes-Benz India opened a new dealership in Jamshedpur and plans on opening 14 more dealerships in 2015 to reach over 80 outlets in total by the end of 2015.
Mercedes-Benz Certified
Mercedes-Benz launched its new Pre-Owned car brand, ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ in India in December 2014 by the simultaneous inauguration of 12 new ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ outlets across India. ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ will provide customers a new destination for taking home a Mercedes-Benz car. The new brand will provide the pre-owned car customers an experience equivalent to a new car purchase, offering high-end facilities, infrastructure, tailor-made financing options, warranty and service packages. This new brand is designed specifically for the Indian market.
Sales Performance
In 2016, Mercedes-Benz's growth strategy for the year will revolve around the slogan "Winning with Mercedes-Benz". In the Jan-December 2015 period Mercedes-Benz India registered a historic 32% year-on-year growth by selling 13502 units. For the third consecutive year, Mercedes-Benz India has witnessed a double digit growth. Mercedes-Benz to launch 12 models and 10 new outlets in 2016. Mercedes-Benz India recorded retail sales of 15,538 units in the period January-Dec 2018.
