Mercedes-Benz, the German auto giant, seems to play bullish on the Indian luxury car market as it has expressed plans to make an investment of whopping Rs. 850 crore before the end of 2014. Already, the company has invested Rs. 480 crore for its 31 showrooms and 41 service outlets, spread across 31 Indian cities.
At present, Mercedes-Benz manufactures its C, E and S class sedans at the Chakan plant near Pune. The company is known as the first luxury car maker to have entered in the Indian auto market, which is now facing a stiff competition from its country cousins, Audi and BMW. Besides, auto maker's decision of manufacturing M-Class in India will be its first production operation outside Tuscaloosa, Alabama (US), which is a part of company's development process. Owing to this, Mercedes-Benz India has also set up a state-of-the-art paint shop, capable of water-based painting, which will start its operations from October this year. This paint shop will have an annual capacity of 20,000 units, which could be later increased to 40,000 units.
Peter T Honegg, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, commented, “We are bullish about the Indian market and this is reflected in our long term commitment towards the dynamic Indian market. The investment of Rs. 850 crores will help us strengthen our production and operational capabilities with regards to our existing products and our exciting and aggressive product offensive which we are readying for the Indian market. This investment will enable Mercedes-Benz India to be future ready.”
With regards to this latest development, Mercedes-Benz India's Technical Director, Piyush Arora said, “Mercedes-Benz India's aggressive growth plan includes the local manufacturing of several new models in the coming years, beginning with the new M-Class.”
The network reach of Mercedes-Benz India's service outlets and showrooms is the largest against any luxury car maker present in the country. The company is also said to be the only luxury car maker assembling its vehicles in India as several others route their models as Completely Built Units (CBUs) in India.
