Mercedes Benz is said to have underestimated the demand for the new S500. The ex-showroom price of the car in New Delhi is Rs.1.58 crores. A lot of 125 cars have been imported from Germany, which seems to be less now as the steep prices have not affected the car enthusiasts. Looking at the current demand, Mercedes is expecting that the company can take up 300 more orders of the car without any doubt in mind of its sale.
The original plan of Mercedes Benz was to import Completely Built Units, but looking at the overwhelming demand, the company has decided to set up a local assembly unit at the Chakan plant for the Launch Edition of the S-Class. The company had decided to sell the S500 and locally assemble the S350, but looking at the demand for S500 particularly, they have changed their plans.
Though Mercedes will locally assembling the S500, it will also be offering Completely Built Units. The only difference the car will have is with respect to the specifications and price. While on one hand the locally assembled S500 will feature lower specifications with rear bench seats, the imported units will feature higher specifications along with business class like chairs. Since the S500 will be assembled locally, it is expected to be priced a little lower as well, though the margin will not be big.
The base variant of the S-Class and the S350 diesel variant have been delayed by a few weeks and are now expected to be offered for sale by June 2014. Out of the total 125 units of S500 sold, except for 2 black ones, all the others were white in color.