Mercedes-Benz C-Class gets significant price cut in South Africa
The Mercedes C-Class once again costs less than R1 million in South Africa.
Image: Supplied
Mercedes-Benz South Africa is facing a few headwinds at the moment. Not only has it lost ground in local sales, but US tariffs have significantly impacted production volumes at its East London plant, where it produces the C-Class sedan.
Rather than sit on its hands, MBSA has decided to take action with a more aggressive pricing strategy on its locally-produced sedan.
While it is quite rightfully a premium product, some local buyers have taken exception to the million-rand-plus price tag of the latest generation sedan, and it doesn’t help that the market has gravitated towards SUVs, while luxurious Chinese cars now flood the market at much lower prices.
In a bid to make the C-Class more competitive, the company has dropped pricing on its core models.
As reported by Cars.co.za, the price of the Mercedes C200 base model has dropped by a shade under R100,000, with the sedan now retailing at R940,646, according to Duoporta data.
The C220d now also comes in under the R1 million psychological barrier with its new list price of R984,423, representing a saving of R122,000.
This brings pricing far closer to its key rival from Bavaria, with the BMW 320i currently costing from R913,731 and the 320d starting at R960,877.
The move is also likely to leave the imported Mercedes CLA out in the cold as the price gap between that and the C-Class is now just R40,000.
However, that will certainly be for the greater good if the move leads to a meaningful sales improvement for the locally produced C-Class.
According to reports, South African exports of the C-Class to the US have dropped by over 70% since Donald Trump imposed a 30% tariff on South African goods.
This threatens the future viability of the Eastern Cape plant, and there has even been speculation that the German firm is looking for another manufacturer to share space in its factory.
Incidentally, the latest price cuts do not appear to affect the AMG models, at least not yet, with the C43 still listed at R1,709,405 and the C63 S at R2,412,842.
IOL Motoring