Mercedes opens Nagpur showroom; banks big on tier II towns

After striking a big one-time deal in Aurangabad, selling 150 cars in one go last year, Mercedes Benz is pursuing this advantage in so-called tier II cities. It has opened a showroom Maharashtra's Nagpur city, hoping to garner sizable business from Vidarbha region.

The German luxury car maker that sold 5,800 cars in India in 2010, clocking year-on-year growth of 80 per cent, already has a significant presence in the region. 

Mercs can be found rolling in the most unexpected places like Yavatmal, a district otherwise known for farmers' suicides, or Bhandara, close to Naxal-hit Gadchiroli, apart from Nagpur. Some cars from the Aurangabad deal have also been delivered in Nagpur and other parts of the region, say reports. 

The new Mercedes showroom at MIDC Hingna is the first of a super luxury brand in the city even though close to 200 Mercs are already plying in this region. Of these, around 80 per cent are in Nagpur.

The new dealership will be run by Mumbai-based firm Auto Hangar. So far, the company had a service centre in city. The Nagpur showroom will have five cars available at a time, but will sell the entire range starting from the entry level C-class priced at Rs27-32 lakh to the costliest Maybach priced at around Rs5.5 crore. 

The first Mercedes in Nagpur in modern times was sold in 2002 and there was a substantial jump in numbers during 2004. Nagpur is the last destination of the company's drive into the tier-II markets.