Used luxury car segment to boom in India

The used luxury cars segment in India is witnessing an upswing. The leading car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is already in this business with its Proven Exclusivity programme. Its biggest rival BMW India has also announced to enter this market by this October with its preowned car programme BMW Premium Selection. With the entry of such brands Audi India and Volkswagen are also planning to enter this market.

Manas Dewan, general manager–strategy planning and communications, Mercedes-Benz India said that because of these steps taken by the company, they are helping the middle class people to buy their dream cars and also upgrade the existing ones. The organised car dealers in the state have begun to create a dent in earnings and revenues of unorganised players. Lucknow-based Tata Motors dealer, Y N Shukla said that the market is picking up in both the segments as they have tie-ups with leading banks, with cooperative staff ready at beck and call.

An authorized Mercedes dealer who got into the used luxury car business few days back said that in the beginning the engine does not provide us with much power but after 5,000 to 10,000 kms the engine starts delivering more power. So there is nothing wrong in purchasing used cars. He too also purchased a preowned Mercedes E250 Cdi at just Rs. 36 lakh. The market price of this car is about Rs. 45 lakh.

The major cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi etc. constitute 40-45% of the cars sales in India. But when it comes to the other cities in the country, Mercedes India apprehend that they would surely get a wonderful response from these developing cities.

The organized segment in the overall Pre-owned market is barely 4 to 5 per cent and the major brands like Honda Auto Terrace, Maruti TrueValue, Ford Assured, Hyundai Advantage, Mahindra & Mahindra’s First Choice and Toyota U Trust have already foryaed into used cars business in India. Though the used cars segment in India is not organized yet.