While luxury cars were earlier perceived to be only made for the richest in the country, the strategy of carmakers such as BMW India and Mercedes-Benz is convincing the consumers that were once out of reach by launching the stripped down version of their models. Both BMW and Mercedes today offer the stripped down 3-Series and Corporate C-Class model respectively for the Indian consumer.

Notably, the price differential between a BMW 3 Series fully loaded version and the stripped down version is close to Rs. 3 lakhs while for Mercedes it stands at a whopping Rs. 6 lakhs.

The race started as BMW launched the 3 Series without the sunroofs, parking sensors and automatic front seats, some offerings that won't annoy the consumer who mostly prefers to take the back-seat. Similar is the story with the Mercedes C-Class.

It may be noted here that coming at a low price, these models are now able to compete with products matching the likes of Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord, the Skoda Superb and the Nissan Teana.

However, the third German companion Audi India has no plans to bring a stripped down version of its entry-level cars in the Indian market so far.