Mercedes-Benz to launch two major products this year

Mercedes-Benz has been going strong with its sales in India and it is unbelievable how the company has turned around the tables. The brand was called by several to be not so young, but the new design language is trendy and definitely  amongst the favourites. The company also was the first to introduce the A-Class, a luxury hatchback segment and the B-Class, as a luxury tourer.

These vehicles have resulted in a good boost for Mercedes-Benz and the company sold 9548 units in the financial year 2013, with just 578 units shy of the luxury car leader in sales. This is despite the fact that the company doesn’t have a compact SUV at the moment, which generates major sales for other German competition.

Next month, expect the company to launch the ML 63 AMG, followed by the CLA 45 AMG in June. Then comes the diesel version of the S-Class in July/August. The regular variants of the CLA will take some time, however the CLA 45 AMG will be the first to reach India. This will be the entry-level to the AMG range in India from June. Mercedes-Benz will need some more time to introduce the CLA-Class, and this should be sometime early in 2015.

This festive season, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer will get its biggest product for this year, the GLA-Class. This compact SUV will compete with the likes of the BMW X1 and the Audi Q3. The GLA-Class Concept was showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2013 and the company will officially launch the car in Europe by May-June. The Indian market will be one of the fastest to get the GLA. Based on the MFA platform, GLA shares several parts with the A-Class and the B-Class. Expect a GLA 180 petrol and diesel to make its way into India.Maybe a GLA 250 4MATIC could also be introduced.

The company has promised ten products this year and so far the S-Class, Grand Edition C and the GL 63 AMG have been launched. With the establishment of the AMG centre in India, expect more AMGs to make their way soon. Mercedes-Benz seems to ready to turnaround things in its favour and once again get back to the number one spot.

To ensure it does this, it will also get the new-generation C-Class to India by the end of this year. The C-Class at the moment is the bread and butter car for the company and there shall be no compromise on this. On the production front, it is now almost ready to produce 20,000 units annually. Recently, the S-Class assembly also began in India. There seems to be no compromise or any delays from the company for launching products.

We spoke to Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India on these new products and he mentioned, "In line with the Year of Excellence' strategy, Mercedes-Benz India will launch some of the most fascinating cars for the Indian customers in 2014; some of them will be from the AMG brand as well. We began the year by launching the new S-Class, the C- Class GRAND EDITION and followed it with the M Guard special protection vehicle. Today we launched India's most powerful luxury SUV, the GL 63 AMG. We will continue to bring relevant products for India and set new standards in modern luxury."

Also, expect more engine variants on the E-Class and also the E-Cabriolet and the E-Coupe to coming to India in the coming years. The new compact sedan CLA will be coming next year, but this year what we get is the AMG spec of this compact sedan. It seems like there is no looking back from the company and an exciting year is upcoming in the luxury segment for consumers.