Mercedes Benz hopeful of demand-driven sales growth in 2026

Mercedes Benz is hopeful of luxury car sales growing in 2026, despite the overall geopolitical uncertainty. 

The German luxury car giant had a slow 2025, with overall sales volumes declining around 3%, but the top end of the luxury market saw strong traction with sales seeing a double digit 11% growth. Buoyed by that traction, the company has now launched its V-Series van in the country, and this will be the second product launched this year to be manufactured in India at its Chakan plant near Pune.

"One out of four cars we sell in India are top-end cars. Start of the year, we already localised the new GLS Maybach in India and the response has been fabulous. The car has already gotten into a waiting period of 2-3 months the moment we announced that. Now comes the second localisation of a top-end car, which is a V-Class," Santosh Iyer, the MD and CEO of Mercedes Benz India told Business Today. 

The introductory pricing of the V-Class is Rs 1.40 crore ex-showroom, and it will compete with the likes of Toyota Vellfire. Mercedes had first launched the V-Class in the country back in 2019, but it didn't find many takers at the time. 

Iyer pointed that the company was ahead of its time then and also the options offered along with features on the V-Class were limited at that time. 

The new V-Class launched in India will be offered in an extra-long wheelbase as standard. It will also come packed with features, including individual second and third row seats and even the third-row seats are ventilated now. 

It will be offered in petrol as well as diesel options. 

"The market has evolved. Today, if I look at the total van market, it's close to 1,800 to 2,000 vans between a price of Rs 1-3 crore, the options that's available. For us, it's about growing the market. And we are sure that our own customers will love to own a luxury van as additional car, " felt Iyer. 

The V-Class can be booked from today, March 2, and deliveries are expected to begin from the month-end. 

Since the GST rationalisation last year, automotive sales have gained traction. However, for luxury car makers, the falling rupee has been a challenge. Mercedes has hiked prices earlier by up to 2% from January 2026, and the company is planning another round of price hike in April, Iyer said. The company had hiked prices in 2025 too. 

How does this price rise and the continued geopolitical uncertainty impact demand is something that will have to be watched out for, noted Iyer. 

"We have to see how consumers absorb it. They also travel to Europe, US. They understand the exchange rate is beyond us. But on the other side, it's also a bit sentiment driven. So, with these geopolitical topics, there is a tendency to postpone purchases sometimes, " stated Iyer.