Mercedes-Benz today began construction of its new facility for the body building of its City buses housed within their already existing Chakan Plant in Pune. The foundation stone of the new facility was laid by Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India along with Mr. Piyush Arora (Director, Technical, Mercedes-Benz India) & Mr. Srinivas Chilukuri, General Manager, Bus Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India.
The infrastructure of the plant was created to address future expansion needs. Announcement of this new set-up comes up within a short time-span of announcing the foray into the city bus segment in June 2010. This new assembly line will cater to the production requirements of the city buses to start with. Start of production is expected around the second half of 2011.
Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said, "We would now like to expand into the city buses segment, making luxury travel affordable for public transport users of the urban population. We have partnered with MCV I am confident that this new facility will enable us further consolidate our position in the commercial vehicle market by efficiently catering to our growing demand."
The market for high-end city buses is lucrative. It is estimated at approximately 500 units per annum and expected to grow by 20% each year. Mercedes-Benz India sees a potential in this niche market and as such plans to offer with solutions that are been successfully operated in similar operating conditions in other parts of the world.
With improving infrastructure and growing urban vehicle population, the need for safe, reliable and robust mass transit system is imminent in India. Mercedes-Benz city buses will be targeted to satisfy such needs of urban mobility.
