Mercedes launches refreshed E-Class,price starts at Rs 48.60 L

German luxury carmaker Mercedes- Benz today launched a refreshed version of its E-Class sedan in India, priced between Rs 48.60 lakh and Rs 60.61 lakh (ex-showroom Pune), to mark 20 years of production of the model in the country.
The company has sold over 32,000 units of the E-Class since the beginning of its production in India in 1995.
Christened as the Edition E, the luxury sedan marks 20 years of the start of production of the E-Class, which has the unique distinction of being the first luxury car to be 'Made in India', Mercedes-Benz said in a statement.
"The launch of the Edition E strongly underlines our strategy of periodically refreshing our existing best-selling products, enabling to win customer confidence and offer them value driven products," Mercedes-Benz India MD and CEO Roland Folger said.

The E-Class which was the first luxury sedan to be produced by Mercedes-Benz for the Indian market, also kick started the company's journey in country, he added.
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The E-Class began its journey in the country in 1995 under the code name W124.
The W210 was launched in 1997, W211 in 2002, W212 in 2009, and the latest model of E-Class was introduced in 2013, Folger said.
There are over 2.17 million E-Class cars on the roads globally, he said.
The company clawed back the top spot in the domestic luxury cars market by selling 13,502 units in 2015, 32 per cent more than the previous year.

Against this, its rival Audi India sold 11,192 units in 2015, compared to 10,851 units in 2014.
The company also announced a brand campaign 'Wish upon a Star', which will be run in the next few months, wherein people can get free rides and one lucky winner will get an E-Class through a contest.
"We are launching an exciting brand campaign called 'Wish upon a Star' to commemorate 20 years of the E-Class legacy.
"In these 20 years, we have delivered 32,000 E-Classes to our customers, that have dominated the mid-size luxury segment. Every new generation of the E-Class has redefined the segment and created a new benchmark," Folger said.

He said the campaign will be activated at the company's sales and service centres and also on the social media.
"We don't want any celebrity to do this. Instead, we are confident that our customers will be our brand ambassadors," he said.
Folger said the E-Class, which pioneered the luxury car market in the country two decades ago, was the first made-in-India luxury car and the biggest volume grosser for the company.
The 'Edition E' comes with eight airbags and a preventive occupant protection system as standard. It recognises critical driving situations and initiates preventive occupant-protection measures, the company said.

The reversible belt tensioners for the driver and front passenger seats are activated when a high-collision accident is detected, it added.
Mercedes entered the country in 1994, pioneering the luxury car market. Its world-class production facility spread over 100 acres in Chakan near Pune was set up in 2009.
In June 2015, it commenced production from its new, expanded production facility located in the same premises, taking its installed capacity to 20,000 units, making it the largest facility for luxury cars in the country.