150 Mercedes sold in one day - Aurangabad,India.

It was all the more surprising that such a huge delivery for Merc came from not any mero city but from a small city-Aurangabad. The models delivered today range in price from 25 to 90 lakhs.

This is the largest bulk sale ever for Mercedes in India. Rs65 crores in a single transaction. Somewhere, a car salesman is in commission heaven.

Like all big ideas, this one started small. A few businessmen who knew each other decided to buy their Mercedes. Then they began actively soliciting acquaintances and friends of friends. 100 Benz-seekers came on board. Some wanted more than one car. Auto expert rajan Dhawan says that in a single day 150 Mercs are sold speaks enough about the growth story of India. " Now I can say safely that Aurangabad has

displaced Ludhiana in terms of sale of Mercs," he concludes.

"We did not get together and place a bulk order for a discount. Companies generally look at bigger cities for investment, but smaller cities like Aurangabad have good infrastructure too," says one proud owner of Merc. It may be recalled that the sugar fields of Kolhapur are dotted with BMWs or Landcruisers as often as they are with tractors. A few years ago, when politicians didn't know any better, these are the sort of scenes that made India Shining seem like a worthy slogan of a country heading towards super-powerdom.

There are 1,1 million people living in the city of Aurangabad, north east of the city of Mumbai in India.

To put Aurangabad on the World map, 150 local business men purchased a high end luxury Mercedes Benz each, in one go. The “media stunt” was as bid to display the prosperity in India, that held a population of 1,2 billion.

” This could well be the highest valued car deal in India. The group wants to put their hometown on the global map”, is the message of the Indian TV-channel IBN, who has a tie up with CNN.

The deal is valued at 650 Million rupees, of 15 million USD.  Aurangabad was once  a small city in the underdeveloped Marathawada region of the state of Maharashtra. Now its called “an economic hub”.

Rishi Darda, MD Lokmat group, said:
“We wanted to put Aurangabad on the world map.” Rahul Mishrikotkar, of RHS Ventures, said: “We want to invite all investors and industries to Aurangabad.”

Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India said there is tremendous economic power in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

These young owners are all set now to get into the driver’s seat to showcase Aurangabad as the new hope of Maharashtra.

Source: IBN