You can own a Merc or a Porsche now at affordable prices. Here’s how

Your dream of owning a Mercedes or a Porsche is going to be true now and no, you won’t have to sell your kidney for it.

The luxury car makers are eyeing India like never before and introducing entry level models in the country at affordable rates.

Porsche and Mercedes-Benz AMG added new models to their portfolios, where as Tata Motors is building one of its own.

The new, entry level versions of the performance cars won’t have all the features but company executives say these cars suit better for Indian road and driving conditions.

In the recent past, Porsche introduced Macan R4, 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman with 2-litre engine options. These vehicles are 20-23% cheaper than those fitted with the traditional 3-litre engines.

Mercedes-Benz launched the S43AMG, SLC 43AMG and GLE43 AMG in the past 12 months, priced at almost half the 63AMG series.

These vehicles are now available with a 3-litre petrol engine, compared with only diesel before.

"A customer of C63 AMG is not able to get the real juice of the car in terms of performance due to challenges on road infrastructure, whereas the C43 AMG is much more practical and delivers a good mix of performance and practicality," Roland Folger, the India head at Mercedes-Benz, told ET, adding “the 43 AMG will be a big driver of growth of our performance cars in India."

Another reason for carmakers to introduce small diesel engine vehicles is the Supreme Court ban on diesel vehicles displacing more than 2 litres in the National Capital Region. Even though the ban has been lifted, they are taking no chances.

"The 2-litre cars should bring in incremental business of about 20% in 2017. Thanks to the overlying positive sentiment, we are looking at positive growth for first time in three years," Pavan Shetty, head of the Porsche brand in India, told ET.