Assembled in India Mercedes-Benz ML350 and GL-Class to Launch in 2013

The Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz that rolled out the locally assembled ML250 CDI on 10th October, 2012 at a price of Rs 46.5 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi), has now officially said to locally assemble the ML350 and GL-Class at its Chakan facility with an objective to make them more affordable buy in India. While the assembly of ML350 is likely to start in next 2-3 months, the GL-Class' local production will begin in later 2013, most probably in the second half. The company will also start assembling the SUV in two other South East Asian countries- Thailand and Indonesia.

Speaking about the same, Daimler has released a statement on its website, "The necessary preparations at the selected three production sites in India, Thailand and Indonesia are proceeding full steam ahead. "Later on in the year, final assembly of the M-Class using SKD kits will start there for the respective local market," This will be the first time, that the company will start the final assembly of the SUV model series for the new Mercedes-Benz M and GL-Class outside the SUV parent plant in Tuscaloosa/Alabama in the US. The company expects to roll out the first units of the GL-Class in India and Indonesia in 2013.

At present, Merc assembles some of its flagship sedans C, E and S-Class and SUV ML250 at its Chakan facility. So commenting on the future plans, Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler AG Member of the Board of Management said: "Our new SUVs are very popular with our customers. We expect high growth rates also in the emerging markets and, therefore, extend our local production. Thus, we open up new potential as part of our growth strategy." The auto major invested Rs 200 crore to have the facilities like water-based painting technology and environment friendly painting technology at the premises. And the CKD assembling of the M-Class will be done with 30 per cent localisation, sourcing the axles and engines from local markets.

And like Peter Hoengg, Mercedes-Benz India's Managing Director and CEO had already said to reporters in August, 2012 that the Luxury SUV is the fastest growing segment in the Indian automotive industry and M-Class is the segment leader. So the company believes that local production of the vehicle would certainly help the company increase its sales numbers. commenting on the same, Hoenegg further added, "The benefits of local production have been realised in the form of aggressive pricing, easier production availability and flexible production scheduling -- each of these will benefit the discerning customers and ensure greater appeal of the M-Class in the high growth luxury SUV segment,"