(From top) Abhishek Bachchan will now be seen driving a Bentley Price tag: Rs 2.5-Rs 3 crore; Janhavi, gutkha king Manikchand Dhariwal’sdaughter, was gifted a Maybachby her dad in 2004. Price tag:Rs 5.5 crore ; Amitabh Bachchan will now be seen driving a Rolls Royce. Price tag: Rs 3.5 crore

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz…” Remember the old song by Janis Joplin? Well, guess what? They have just changed the lyrics. And the updated version is all about the Bentley.

The Bentley is the new Merc: strictly for the ultra-lux-ultra-wannabe market. At Rs 2 crore plus (depending on the model), it is among the most expensive cars in the Indian market. Even actor Abhishek Bachchan did not go buying the Bentley but was presented one — or, seemingly, allowed to drive one (but that’s another story.)

As the new status symbol pulls up in town, the reigning roadster may well have to concede ground in the super-snob chariot race. Will the Merc end up doing a Sharapova to Bentley’s Serena?

What does the Bentley have that other luxury cars do not? Is the Bentley a better drive than a topline Mercedes? “The Bentley is a perfect balance between a fast and comfortable car,” says Shapoor Kotwal, associate editor, Autocar India. “It has a leech-like grip.”

The Merc, on the other hand, is a practical car, which, he says, one can take to the market. But clearly, it’s not just the car. The men in it have a high cool quotient too. “The Bentley owner is a high net worth individual who just doesn’t buy a car but a lifestyle. Now we are flooded with bookings but it takes six months for the car to be delivered as it is handcrafted,” says Rahul Grover, deputy general manager for Exclusive Motors India (P) Ltd, agent for Bentley. Bentley, he points out, only makes 1,200 cars a year all over the world whereas Mercedes manufacture 10,000 cars a day.

But for those who know their coupes from their convertibles, temptation is not overpowering. Gillette India chairman Saroj Poddar is a Merc lover and he won’t trade it for anything. For the last seven years, he has been driving a Mercedes E Class car and it has measured up to his expectations. “I love my Merc and intend to carry on with it,” he says. Poddar upgrades his car every three years, but it has to be a Mercedes. He finds the car reliable, specious and comfortable. “Most of all it is suited to Indian roads.”

Road racing champion J.D. Madan, a board member of OSA Shipping Pvt Ltd, has long been envied in Chennai for his garage of luxury cars normally not available in the Indian market. When manufacturers DaimlerChrylser introduced the E Class Mercedes in the Indian market more than a decade ago — the top of the line model on offer was an E-320 (the 320 indicating the engine capacity of 3200 cc) — Madan was already driving an imported E-350 which had been introduced in the European market only that year.

But Madan is gracious about the new kid on the block. “The Bentley is a more modern-looking car and has got the younger generation interested,” Madan acknowledges, adding that its “better branding and imaging” are very effective. He, however, refuses to say if he will add a Bentley to his garage.

Several brands of luxury cars are imported in India through an import licence. The final price tag reflects the 110 per cent import duty that is levied on them. However, the growth in the number of wealthy in the country is one of the reasons that some luxury models are now being manufactured in India. Daimler Chrysler has a plant in Pune and last year sold what it calls a record breaking 2,127 Mercedes cars in the country. The different Merc models meant that fresh millionaires could own a Merc at starting prices of Rs 65-plus lakh. At the top end, Chrysler Daimler has the Maybach costing upwards of Rs 5.5 crore.

Maybach is perhaps the only Merc model that can compare with the Bentley’s luxuriousness. A custom-built car from Daimler Chrysler, it was first purchased in India by gutkha king Manikchand Dhariwal who gifted it to his daughter on her birthday in 2004. Since then it has sold four more cars but none last year.

Eleven years ago when DaimlerChrysler arrived in India, the Mercedes had an easy run. “And last year’s figures were the highest in 11 years”, says a source at DaimlerChrysler, Pune.

The difference in price between an average Mercedes and a Bentley is four times, with the latter coveted for its exclusivity. The Bentley Arnage RL limousine, says agent Grover, costs Rs 2.5 crore and has been selling “well” in Mumbai and Delhi.

Not everybody feels sedans such as the Merc or Bentley are the “ultimate” in luxury. There’s the Rolls too, which is seen on Indian roads.

But some Calcutta businessmen at least think they the car is unlucky — the maharajas had Rolls cars and look where they are now. And McLeod Russel managing director Aditya Khaitan says when it comes to a car, he cannot think of anything but a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).

At the moment, he drives a Honda CRV, which replaced his Pajero barely two years ago. “I am an SUV person. I have always been,” he says. Khaitan drives himself and finds his Honda “eminently” suitable for Calcutta roads. “It’s not a big vehicle and is extremely easy to manoeuvre,” he says. However, his father, B.M. Khaitan, chairman of the B.M. Khaitan group, will use nothing but his Merc SL Class roadster.

Calcutta-based industrialist Sanjiv Goenka is clearly a BMW loyalist. The vice president of the RPG Enterprises has been using a BMW 745 LI sedan for over three years and he is more than happy with it. “It’s a lovely car,” he says.

Though he seldom drives himself, Goenka “enjoys” cars. He bought his present BMW for Rs 70 lakh. He says BMWs are “phenomenally well-engineered, ride very well and look great.” But even he doesn’t rule out a “fantastic” Bentley in the future. “A car is often a matter of personal choice though it has something to do with your budget,” Goenka says.

Pune-based Adil Darukhanawalla, Editor, Car India, candidly picks “snob value” as the trigger to buying fancy cars. “The Bentley has three models —GDC, GDS and GD. The cost ranges from Rs 1.8 crore to Rs 3 crore. The Bentley is an absolute pleasure to drive. But one has to be older, fatter and richer to be able to afford it,” he wisecracks. It’s not clear, though, if he is referring to the presenter — or supposed owner — of Abhishek’s Bentley.

Satya Bagla, official dealer in Delhi for the Bentley and Lamborghini brands, begs to differ. “The age group of Bentley owners is going down. There are more young people with access to wealth. Most owners of the Bentley are in the 30-50 age groups.”

The market for this car, he said, was equally big in Mumbai and Delhi. Calcutta was a small market, not because of a lack of affordability but because people were reluctant to spend so much. He refuses to give an actual number of Bentleys sold but says that since entering the Indian market in 2004, sales growth has been in double digit percentage.

The game is getting hot. The next round between Sharapova and Williams promises to be the decider.