Mercedes-Benz to start second shift at Chakan plant

Published On Mar 23, 2010 11:11 AM By Ritesh for Mercedes-Benz GL-Class

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Mercedes-Benz India Ltd(MBIL), is working hard on its plans of increasing production at its Chakan facility. Dr Wilfried Aulbur,the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said today that the company is starting second shift operations to meet the growing demand of its cars in the country.

At present the company has an installed capacity of 5,000 cars per year with single shift operations in which the company assembles variants of the C, E and S-Class models.

Last week the company has launched two new variants of Mercedes-Benz GL-350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, which is a second model by the company in luxury SUV segment. While the Mercedes-Benz GL-Executive is available with a price tag of Rs 63.57 lakh, the second variant has been launched with a price tag of Rs 68.48 lakh. The Mercedes-Benz GL-Class is powered with a 3-litre, 6 valve diesel engine along with a 7 G-Tronic gearbox. The engine is capable of generating maximum power of 165kw.

Dr Aulbur said that, as the SUV segment is growing aggressively, the company is expecting it to grow faster than luxury car segments. Besides Mercedes-Benz GL-Class the company is selling one more SUV in India named as M-Class. The third product in this segment, the GLK cannot be brought to India, as it does not have a right hand drive, said Mr Aulbur.