More than half of Mercedes-Benz cars sold in India are diesel

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Mercedes-Benz has revealed that more than half of its cars sold in India are diesel models. This indicates that the demand for diesel cars remains strong in the premium segment.

Lance Bennett, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India said, “It (diesel) represents roundabout 54 percent of our sales, 6 percent is EVs and the balance is petrol. So it’s still skewed towards diesel but we’re happy to offer each of those powertrains to our customers. We’re seeing that some markets are a bit more receptive towards petrol models due to emission norms.”

Mercedes-Benz India sold 5,412 units in the first quarter of 2024. The carmaker continues to offer diesel engine options in its sedans and SUVs. When it comes to popular models like the E-Class and GLC, sales of diesel variants remain high.

Besides Mercedes, BMW also continues to sell diesel models in India. However, Audi and Volvo have shifted their focus to petrol models and EVs.

Source: Car and Bike

Link to Team-BHP news

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Last edited by FAIAAA : 28th May 2024 at 12:02. Reason: Additional text

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Part of the reason is also because Mercedes-Benz?s India lineup has always had weaker petrol engines compared to its diesel counterparts and petrol competitors until now.

Few Examples:
E200 (190hp) - E220d (190hp) vs 530i (248hp) vs A6 (241hp)

Prev Gen GLC200 (190hp) - GLC220d (190hp) vs X3 30i (248hp) vs Q5 45 TFSi (241hp)

C200 (1.5L Petrol with EQ boost - 200hp) - C220d (197hp) vs 330Li (252hp) vs A4 40 TFSi (190hp)

A200 (1.3L Petrol - 160hp) - A200d (2.0L Diesel - 150hp) vs 220i (180hp)

GLA200 (1.3L Petrol - 160hp) - GLA220d (2.0L Diesel - 197hp) vs Q3 40 TFSi (190hp) vs the latest downsized ?23 X1 18i (134hp)

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Seeing the ongoing, and presumably future, trend of Diesel's still being in strong demand, Would there be any possibility for Audi to once again offer Diesel engines moving forward?
Or is Diesel still a dirty word for Volkswagen.

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No surprises here, the diesels are better than their petrol alternatives where they exist. The head of the company said that petrol purchases are driven by media hysteria and not any inherent desire for the engines. A new diesel six cylinder suv is the perfect highway cruiser, potholed roads, mud trails and other such hindrance are no problem.

The best part is the range allows you to fuel at a reliable pump, petrol quality is suspect throughout and with ethanol blending, good knows when these engines are going to grenade themselves. DEF is available in every village, so there goes that problem, premium petrol and poor mileage will easily cost a year's worth of def in two full tanks.