Mercedes-Benz to double its production capacity; Investing Rs. 250 crore

Mercedes-Benz India seems to be aggressive with its strategy for the Indian auto market. The company has launched the new GL-Class and is all set to launch A-Class premium hatchback on 30th May. The German luxury car manufacturer is planning to invest Rs. 250 crore in its Indian production facility to double its production capacity to 20,000 vehicles by the end of this fiscal.

Mercedes-Benz India MD & CEO Eberhard Kern said,"We are enhancing our production to cater to the increasing demand for luxury sedans and SUV in the domestic market," The collective investment for the Indian market would be raised to Rs. 850 crore, he further added. At the launch of new GL-Class sports utility vehicle in New Delhi on 16th May, Kern said,"If needed and depending on the market expansion we would add more capacity to the Pune plant to meet our future sales projections".

Initially, the new GL-Class will come as a completely built unit (CBU), however, the local assembly of the GL-Class will commence from September this year at the company's Pune facility. A total of five cars will be developed locally at the plant, as sedans like E-Class, C-Class, S-Class and the ML-Class are already made at the plant, while GL-Class will join them by September. Once the GL-Class start developing locally, India will become the second international market after the US to locally produce the GL-Class vehicle. Local assembling of the vehicles helps the company to price them competitive, as high import duties cause price rise.

Kern said that, "We plan to launch more hatchbacks and SUVs to suit the taste of the growing number of offroading aficionados in India". He further added that the year 2013 is the 'Year of Offensive' for Mercedes-Benz India. The company has launched new GL-Class at Rs. 77.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Source : ET