Mercedes-Benz is all set to invest Rs. 350 crore in its Chakan Plant near Pune by 2014 to manufacture about 5 compact premium cars in the next two years in order to regain its position from BMW.
February 14, 2012: Mercedes-Benz is planning to invest Rs. 350 crore in its Chakan facility near Pune by 2014 with the aim to roll out about 5 compact premium cars in India in the next two years in order to regain its position lost to BMW.
The company is all set to introduce 10 new vehicles in India immediately after their global launches by 2015. “India is an important growth market for us. We see high demand for our A and B Class segments in India. We plan to enlarge our dealer network and ramp up production capacities,” said Dieter Zetsche(Chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and the head of Mercedes-Benz Cars). However, he denied disclosing the exact investments in India. As of now, the company has invested Rs. 650 crore in India. The further investment will reach Rs.1,000 crore mark.
The company may assemble A Class, B Class, a small coupe, a new SUV and one more vehicle at its Chakan facility and then introduce them in the Indian auto market. Company is also looking forward to establish a new in-house paint shop along with two more assembly lines. According to the officials, Mercedes-Benz is mulling over doubling the sales in India to 20,000 in the next few years. Moreover, the company sold 7,089 cars registering growth of 22.7% in 2011.
At the company’s annual results conference, “It is important to start local production for A and B Class. We hope to double our volumes with these models,” said Matthias Luhrs (Chairman of the Mercedes Benz India board).
2011 annual result was the best one for Daimler AG having posted a net profit of more than 6.0 billion and the revenue of the group was worth 106.5 billion. As per the 2020 Vision, Mercedes-Benz is the world’s largest car-maker with India and China being the backbone of its futuristic plans.
