Manjit Singh Bala, MD of Merc dealer Tai-Pan Traders Ltd, says business has never been so good in these parts. Bala, who was present at the launch of the new Mercedes C-class here today, said, “Earlier, we had a negligible share in the rural market but in the last one year or so, the rural market has grown by 15 per cent. The land-owners now prefer to buy new models rather than used luxury cars.”

The cotton belt is the biggest market for the Mercedes. “We are working out better finance facilities for farmers, so our market share here should grow even bigger. We already have several buyers from smaller cities like Bathinda, Faridkot, Muktsar, Ferozepur, etc,” said Bala.

Earlier, Sanjeev Sahajwala, head marketing, Daimler Chrysler India Pvt Ltd, unveiled the new C-class priced between Rs 26.5 lakh and Rs 31 lakh. Talking to Newsline, he said, “This car was launched in the Indian market at the 9th Auto Expo on January 9 in New Delhi and since then, we have already delivered more than 100 cars across the country.”

Talking about the Punjab market, Bala said, “Nearly 50 cars have already been booked by people from Punjab and Chandigarh. Out of that, 25 buyers are from Ludhiana alone. The city continues to be the most important market for us.”

Last year, a total of 176 Mercedes cars (different models) were sold in Ludhiana and the target for this year was fixed at 150, said Bala, confident that it would be achieved.

On the importance of the Ludhiana market, he added, “Till date, nearly 1,500 Mercedes cars are plying on the roads of Punjab and Chandigarh and out of those, nearly 700 are in Ludhiana.”

On a change in the buying trend, Sahajwala said, “Earlier, our average buyer was in the mid forties but now he is in the mid thirties. This is a good sign.”