Mercedes-Benz competes for Russian luxury market

Muamer Hodzic August 28, 2008

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Only a few decades ago, Russians were famous for driving Volgas and Lada’s, or some other locally made products; flash forward to 2008, and you’ll see a totally different Russia. The Russian luxury car market is one of the fastest growing in the world, which has set off a rat race between the premium German car makers. Reuters has published a great article on the up and coming Russian revolution, where nothing is too expensive and everything is worth showing off.

Mercedes customer deliveries in Russia rose 65% last year, compared to 55% for BMW and 52% for Audi. The trio enjoy higher-margin sales thanks to the desire by many in Russia to display their wealth by driving the most expensive cars.

“There is another big difference about our customers — they are considerably younger. Our average Mercedes buyer is between 35-37 years of age, in other words roughly 15 years younger than elsewhere,” said Juergen Sauer, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Russia SAO.

Continue reading the article over at Reuters