Mercedes Malaysia sees itself driving to another record year

New model: Raine is seen here with the newly launched Mercedes-Benz C350e.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mercedes-Benz Malaysia is confident of achieving another record year of sales in 2016, bucking the trend in a difficult car market at present where the total industry volume (TIV) has stunted.

Declining to reveal any figures, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia sales and marketing passenger cars vice-president Mark Raine said year-to-date sales for 2016 were 10% higher compared with 2015.

“We’re confident of exceeding last year’s figures. Despite a tough market, we feel that we have the right measures in place,” he told reporters on the sidelines following the launch of the company’s Mercedes-Benz C350e yesterday.

Raine said the company was investing in upgrading its showrooms and introducing new models into the market to “excite customers.”

“We’ve launched 10 cars so far this year - 22 since the start of 2015. We plan to launch another two models by year-end,” he said.

Raine emphasised that continuing to launch new models in a difficult market was in fact the “right move to make.”

In 2015, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia enjoyed record sales of 10,845 vehicles which marked a 56% year-on-year increase - making it the leader within the local premium car segment.

The Malaysian automotive industry has been cruising steadily upwards in terms of sales over the past five years, hitting a record-breaking 2015 with TIV hitting 666,674 units.

However, going into 2016, many car companies have been struggling to maintain their previous year’s performance, with the Malaysian Automotive Association slashing its TIV forecast downwards to 580,000 units for this year from 650,000 initially.

Separately, Raine said Mercedes-Benz Malaysia was confident of a good take-up rate for its newly launched C350e.

He said the model has been well-received since being previewed in August.

The Mercedes-Benz C350e is the company’s most advanced hybrid technology yet in the C-Class, being its first model to feature plug-in hybrid technology.

The C350e, which is the third locally-assembled hybrid vehicle in Malaysia, costs RM289,888 (on-the-road, without insurance).

It was launched yesterday during the International Greenwich and Eco Products Exhibition/Conference Malaysia 2016 (IGEM 2016), which runs from Oct 5 to 8, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Since 2003, the company has invested over RM800mil to assemble, distribute and market Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles in Malaysia.