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From being a brand that has traditionally associated luxury with wealth and framed itself within a class-led social hierarchical system, Mercedes Benz is looking to define itself afresh, for its millennial buyers. With a new campaign Mercedes Benz wants the young to be ‘restless for tomorrow’ or in other words, pull the brand off their wish lists and drop it into the purchase cart. Santosh Iyer, vice president, sales and marketing at Mercedes Benz India says “One clear insight from the market research was the spirit of restlessness. It’s not about been-there-done-that any more. People are constantly challenging themselves, be it a start-up or an established business. They aren’t averse to risks.” The company’s market research indicated that new buyers are unlikely follow the traditional purchase route that used to be to first buy a mass market model and then upgrade to a luxury brand. Iyer says that close to 10 per cent of auto buyers are those that are straight away buyin...

Tata Motors should look at selling its UK-based subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover to German luxury car maker, BMW, which could fetch a valuation of 9 billion pounds to the Tata company, global brokerage firm, Bernstein has said. In a report to its clients, Bernstein said BMW is over-capitalised and is awash with cash. “It (BMW) has run into the limits of growth for its product range and brand. Returns on capital from further expansion look questionable. By contrast, JLR could be acquired at a discount to book value. With BMW's help it could be returned to profitability,” it said. The Range Rover has huge gross margins but is being swamped by fixed costs and problems on other product lines. BMW could quickly lower JLR’s investment costs and raise margins by leveraging its own platforms, powertrains, purchasing scale and quality control. The value creation would be substantial and could boost BMW earnings by 20 per cent, the report said. For Tata group, the problems at JLR loo...

Just three weeks after taking over, BMW Group India’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President Rudratej Singh launched the seventh generation model of the company’s latest 3 Series sedan. The car generates around a third of its annual sales and is the company’s flagship product. Available in three variants across diesel and petrol engines, the ex-showroom prices of the sedan start at Rs 41,50,000 and go up to Rs 48,00,000. In 2009, the 3 Series range was launched at an ex-show room price of Rs 24,00,000 to Rs 25,00,000. Singh says he doesn’t expect duties to come down anytime soon. Also, BMW does not see the current downturn in the auto segment impacting its plans in any way. So, is this the best time to launch an expensive car? Singh thinks it is, because new cars like the 3 Series will be even costlier in March 2020 when BSVI norms kick in. “We are committed to this market for the long term, and understand that for growth in India, there will be short-term hiccups,”...

Automakers from the US, Europe and Asia are rolling out new and redesigned production and concept vehicles at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that began from Saturday. Among them are: Acura RDX Honda Motor will unveil the redesigned Acura RDX crossover vehicle, hoping to stand out in a crowded field of compact, luxury SUVs BMW i8 Coupe An updated edition of BMW’s electrified sports car marries a three-cylinder gasoline engine and an electric motor for a combined 374 horsepower BMW X2 A sporty companion to BMW’s X1 and X3 compact crossovers, the new X2 arrives in US showrooms in March Chevrolet Silverado General Motors’s best-selling pickup gets a full redesign for model year 2019. Its companion, the redesigned GMC Sierra, will be unveiled later this year. Honda Insight Honda reboots this gasoline-electric hybrid model as a sporty sedan this summer after Hyundai Veloster Hyundai Motor’s sporty Veloster gets a new silhouette, ...