Mercedes-Benz India will soon double its production capacity in India, from the current 10,000 units/annum to 20,000 units/annum. Mr. Boris Fitz, the company's vice president for sales and network development, said that the plant expansion was in its final stage, and that it will be ready for use very soon.
The Pune plant currently rolls out models such as the C Class, E Class, M Class, GL Class, and most recently, the diesel and petrol variants of the flagship S Class. Entry-level compact models such as the A Class and B Class are imported into India via the CBU route, as are models such as the CLS, SLK and AMG series of high-performance cars.
Once production capacity is expanded, the A and B Class are expected to be assembled locally, which would also lower their prices to some extent. The two compact models account for nearly 20 percent of Mercedes-Benz India's sales volume.
Mercedes launched the Edition 1 special editions of the A and B Class earlier this week. Going forth, three new models will launch in India by the end of this year. Two of these launches, the CLA 45 AMG and the GLA Class, have been confirmed by the company. The CLA 45 is expected to launch next month, while the GLA will come during the festive season (September-October period).
[Source - Economic Times]
