Mercedes-Benz unveiled the new B-Class in India yesterday, at the Buddh International Circuit. The car deemed as the sports tourer by the German car maker will be launched in India shortly and will compete with the Audi Q3 and the BMW X1 at least on prices. Mercedes is lagging behind BMW and Audi in sales and hopes to get back in the game with the new B-Class and other new models in the next two years.
The new models from the three-pointed star will include the A-Class, CLA and few others models, which will be priced competitively by local assembling. The company will hence invest in the Pune assembly line to up the production from current 10,000 units per annum to 25,000 units per annum in the next couple of years. An investment of around Rs 400 crore will be required for the additional setup that will assist these CKD operations.
Mercedes plans to locally assemble the new ML in India by the end of this year, it will then be followed by the B-Class and the GL. Merc’s hatchback, the A-Class, is also expected to be rolled-out by mid-2013, while the CLA and another entry-level car should arrive in India by 2014.
