Mercedes-Benz India has announced its plans to assemble its latest SUV, the GL-Class at its Pune plant from August. The German car maker also plans to assemble the hot-selling A-Class at the facility in the same month. This will make the total tally of locally manufactured cars in India to six. The German auto maker currently manufactures the C-Class, E-Class, M-Class and the S-Class in India.
The luxury car maker recently doubled the capacity of their Pune plant to 20,000 units per annum, with an investment of Rs 850 crore in order to incorporate the new model assembly. The local assembly clubbed with the launch of the new E-Class is expected to help Mercedes-Benz reclaim the top perch in the luxury car segment.
The next generation E-Class that was launched in India two days back starts at Rs 41.51 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The company is also offering a special launch edition of the new E-Class, available at Rs 49.9 lakh. The E-Class is the most successful model for Mercedes-Benz in India, with the car claiming over 23,000 units since its launch in 1995.
Big metros currently account for 45 per cent of the company’s sales, but the company intends to set up dealerships in smaller cities as an investment for the future. The company expects to reach a sales figure of 7 million units by 2020. Mercedes-Benz will also launch the diesel version of the B-Class to further boost the sales.
Source: EconomicTimes
