Elvis Presley’s Mercedes Benz fails to make its asking price at auction

It seems no even Elvis Presley is recession proof after a Mercedes Benz limo previously owned by The King was sold at auction for half of its estimated selling price.

We reported previous month that the Mercedes Benz 600 Saloon car, which is reported to be one of just a handful of cars to have been registered in the Blue Suede Shoes singer’s name, was predictable to make between £150,000 and £200,000 when it went under the mallet at Mercedes Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey at the beginning of the month.

However when the Mercedes Saloon went up for auction previous Monday, it sold for £80,700, less than half of the expected top end of the probable price for the car with the famous connection.

However the auction house which was dependable for selling the vintage ride, Bonhams, defended the apparently low auction price, saying that the £80,700 which it achieved was fair considering that the car is realistically worth £40,000 when you take out the Elvis Presley link. Bonhams suggested that the estimated selling cost of £150,000-£200,000 was unrealistic.

New deals on approved used Mercedes

Customers who buy a Mercedes-Benz during the company's approved used service before the latest year will be able to choose from a number of extra deals.

The luxury car manufacturer is offering customers either two years' gratis servicing, an additional year's warranty or a £500 contribution towards their vehicle deposit until New Year's Eve, when the proposal comes to an end.

Cars purchased through Approved Used Mercedes-Benz are already given a 30-day/1,000 mile swap plan, 12 months' unlimited mileage warranty and 12 months' roadside help.

All vehicles sold through the scheme have been put through meticulous security, mechanical, electrical and history checks and every vehicle comes with a certificate confirming that the recorded mileage is genuine.

Another Mercedes Benz car in Indian market

Mercedes Benz has regained lost ground from BMW in the Indian market this year. This is due to the fresh launches from the company. The company has released numerous cars this year in the market.

In the first seven months of 2010, Mercedes Benz has recorded a enormous 79% rise in sales. On Tuesday Mercedes drove in a four seated E-Class car priced at Rs 64.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The company has launched more than a dozen latest cars since January this year, including variants of its C, E and S-Class models.

Wilfried Aulbur, MD, Mercedes Benz India said, The Indian economy is growing speedily and so are the aspirations… people want to invest in luxury and cars. previous month, the company launched SLS-AMG sports car with Rs 2 crores price tag and sold ten units despite the steep cost.

Anyone in chappals or lungi can be a Mercedes owner

Wealth generation in India is happening on a massive scale and anyone exhausting plain clothes and chappals can be a Mercedes Benz owner, a top official of the luxury car creator said on Monday.

Wilfried Aulbur, the auto company's managing director, said there was no way one could profile a person from his outward appearance as a potential Mercedes Benz customer.

In India, persons exhausting plain white shirt and pant or lungi and chappals can buy the car (Mercedes Benz), Aulbur told reporters, inaugurating a dealership close to Panaji.

Aulbur also said that lesser cities like Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and Panaji were the next frontier for the luxury car makers.

We are looking at a 25 per cent expansion in these cities. There is a enormous wealth generation happening in India, he added.

Citing the example of Aurangabad, Aulbur said this Maharashtra city was an example of the changing and expansive lifestyle of lesser cities in India.

There is an order for 125 Mercedes Benz cars in Aurangabad. This shows the significance of such cities to us.

He said there were approximately 250 cars already on the roads in Goa, despite the fact that the state did not have a full-fledged dealership until currently.

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