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German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz India on Tuesday rolled out its 50,000th car in the form of C-Class Grand Edition from its Chakan plant. The auto major assembles C-Class, ML-Class, GL-Class and E-Class and is ready to assemble new S-Class in April this year from the plant.
Eberhard Kern, managing director and chief executive officer, Mercedes-Benz India, said, “In 2014, we are planning to launch 10 new models in India. As a part of our India expansion plan, new eight cylinder S-500 will be assembled from the Chakan plant in April. The demand for S-Class is quite high. We are committed to the India story and the market potential, and will continue to increase our investments in our facility and infrastructure.”
He added, “The current capacity will be doubled by end of March 2014 and we will soon commence local assembly of newer models, making the company future ready. The C-Class remains one of Mercedes-Benz’s best-sellers in the competitive entry level luxury sedan segment with more than 19,000 units sold till date.”
Price of C-Class (C 200 GE petrol) models starts from Rs 36.81 lakh, while a C-200 CDI diesel variant costs Rs 39.16 lakh.
In the upcoming Auto Expo at Delhi, Mercedes will unveil two new cars — CLA 45 AMG and high protection GLA Concept SUV. In 2013, Mercedes-Benz had introduced eight new products in the country and will launch 10 new models in the year 2014.
Company's periodic investments of Rs 850 crore in India are in line with scheduled ramp-up plans. Mercedes Benz is producing 10,000 units per annum currently. The capacity expansion is already in the process and shall be completed in a months time. The company has step up the localisation to 85 per cent in the production though it varies with the car model.
Eberhard Kern also expressed his condolence over the sudden death of Karl Slym, managing director, Tata Motors.
