Mercedes Benz India has asked headquarters in Germany to increase the Indian allocation of the A Class and B Class. Mercedes, which launched the A Class on May 30th and the B Class diesel on July 11th, currently imports these cars through the CBU route.
Mercedes-Benz India MD & CEO, Mr. Eberhard Kern, said -
When we launched the A Class there were doubts if India was ready for such compact luxury cars. Going by our experience, we can say India is ready. Today one out of every four Mercedes-Benz cars sold in India is a compact car. Today we have an average waiting period of about two months for the A and B Class cars. We have asked the headquarters for more allocation for these cars for India considering the demand here. The worldwide demand for these cars is huge but we have been assured that India is priority by the headquarters.
The A Class, which was available in both petrol and diesel engine options from the day of the launch, saw 400 bookings in the first 10 days. The B Class which was launched last year as a petrol only hatch, saw the A Class' 2.2-liter diesel being added to the lineup last month.
Mr. Kern also says that other MFA cars such as the CLA and the just-announced GLA, would be launched in India as well. He did not specify a timeframe, but he said -
Once these are available in the global market, we will be working to bring these models in India.
[Source - Economic Times]
