German car maker Mercedes Benz is attempting to overtake other luxury car maker rivals in India by launching a number of new products including several new models.

The luxury car industry is estimated to grow by 50% in the next year and Mercedes Benz want to capitalise on this new area of growth by offering their customers in India the widest range of products. Mercedes have plans in the pipeline for a new sports utility vehicle (SUV) plus a new SLS and an AMG.

Last year BMW stole Mercedes Benz’s crown to become the biggest selling luxury car manufacturer in India. However Mercedes should be able to claw back into pole position within the next 12 months as their most popular vehicle, the E Class, was unavailable in 2009 which may have contributed to the car maker’s fall to second place. The Mercedes Benz E-Class has previously been responsible for 40% of the German car maker’s sales in India.

Other new products which Mercedes Benz are planning to launch in the coming months in an attempt to become the largest luxury car manufacturer in India include a finance department for domestic sales, and also a second hand branch of car dealers.