The cheapest Mercedes-Benz in India is currently the B-Class. The German automaker will be launching the A-Class, which will be positioned below the B-Class. Fever of gaining boost in sales volumes and gaining lead position is rising strongly amongst luxury car makers as India is one of the fastest growing luxury car market in the world. Launched few months ago globally, the A-Class will make its Indian entry in 2013 and as a step towards it, testing and homologation of the A-Class has begun. It has been recently spotted doing testing under heavy camouflage.
In one of the press conference, Mercedes-Benz officials pointed out that lack of small car or compact SUV is the reason behind losing their numero uno spot in India. As competitors are leading the volume race with products like X1 from BMW and Q3 from Audi which costs around 25 lakhs. Recently launched, sub Rs. 25 lakhs, B-Class and upcoming A-Class are armed with lower cost tag to take down these competitors. As A-Class will be assembled here in India at Mercedes’ Chakan plant, it will have a cracking price proposition. With this, Mercedes will be having two offerings in their sub Rs. 25 lakh portfolio, which is expected to give leverage to their sales volumes.
The new A-Class is based on Mercedes’ new Modular Front Architecture (MFA) platform and measures 4292 mm in length, 1780 mm in width and 1433 mm in height. The A-Class uses a front-wheel drive layout and is powered by a range of engines. Which power plants Mercedes will plonk in this car when it comes to India is still unknown. But we predict it will share engines with the B-Class.
The A-Class is a potent car to pull the volumes from Mercedes in India. The pricing will be crucial though, as the A-Class only will not be the one present in this segment. BMW and Audi are chalking out their plans to launch similar products in India soon. What do you think, around what price Mercedes could launch the A-Class? Will it be a sub Rs. 20 lakh car? If yes by how much it will undercut the Rs. 20 lakh barrier? These are some interesting questions which only Mercedes-Benz can answer.
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Spy Picture Source – Autocar India