Right after the launch of the G63 AMG yesterday, we found ourselves in a small conference room with Michael Jopp, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, where we had a conversation about the G63, the future of Mercedes and AMG in India and much more. Here are some highlights of the conversation that we had with Mr Jopp.
How many sales do you target for the G63 AMG and how many allocations does India get?
Going straight to the point at the very beginning, Mr Jopp answered the question by saying that the sales are pretty good for this car, in fact it is the most selling AMG model in India and for that very reason he is trying to get as many allocations possible from his colleagues back in Affalterbach for India. While he could not reveal an exact figure he did mention the sales were a good double-digit number.
Have you considered bringing in a diesel G wagon, say a G 350 d? Do you think it would then become a threat to the GLS?
Michael said that they have not seen a demand for a diesel G Wagon yet, that said, they will definitely study the market and if the need requires they may get one in India. He added, the G Wagon has always had a very premium clientele, they are people who would prefer the smoothness of a petrol engine and as far as the GLS is concerned, both the cars offer very different things like the GLS gets 3 rows of seats so there is no threat as such.
Will we see electric cars in the Mercedes portfolio in the future? Will they come to India?
Mercedes definitely is working on electric cars for the future, in fact, they plan to have ten all-electric cars on offer within the next to years and as far as India is concerned, there is a chicken and egg problem. The government does not want to invest in infrastructure because there are no electric cars and us manufacturers cannot bring in electric cars because there is no infrastructure. In this case, hybrids will serve as a mode of transition as they offer the best of both worlds, which we hope would bring better infrastructure in the future.
What more AMGs can we see in the Indian market? Will we get the GT 4 door?
As of now, India has a total of fifteen AMGs on offer, which is quite a huge number and they are the leaders of the sports car scene in India. Regarding the GT 4 door, Mr Jopp did not comment on it, just said we shall have to wait and watch which neither denies or confirms the sedan coming to India.
So this was it, our time with Michael Jopp, we ended the conversation by asking what car he drives which he answers by saying the new E-Class long-wheelbase variant which provides enough space and comfort for a long guy like him. The new G63 AMG launch event concluded on this note, click here to read more about the launch an do check the image gallery of the car below.
