Mercedes-Benz expands its India car manufacturing plant

Keeping to its ‘2015 Live the Best’ philosophy, Mercedes-Benz India has invested Rs 1,000 crore to expand its existing car manufacturing facility in Chakan, Maharashtra. This move will facilitate the German luxury car company to keep up with the increasing demands and to take Mercedes-Benz’s growth drive to the next level.

The plant had an initial  production capacity of 10,000 units annually which has now been doubled to 20,000 units annually. With this Mercedes-Benz becomes the luxury car manufacturer in India, with the highest installed production capacity. The new Mercedes-Benz facility has been inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of other guests of honour including Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for EF & CC and Subhash Desai, Industry Minister, Maharashtra.

The company has started 2015 on a high with new car launch like the Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard, CLA-Class, the C 220 CDI, the new B-Class, the E-Class Cabriolet and the CLS 250 CDI. The luxury carmaker has announced that it will locally produce the GLA premium compact SUV at its Chakan plant. In Q1 2015 Mercedes-Benz also reported a 40 percent growth, selling 3,566 units and thus claiming to be the leading luxury car manufacturer in India.

Commenting on this occassion, Piyush Arora, Executive Director, Operations, Mercedes-Benz India, said, "Our state-art production facility which is benchmark in quality and technological advancement in manufacturing and has been the backbone of our growth in India. The high level of refinement and implementation of advanced technology and felxible processes ensures our production quality confirms to the most stringent global Mercedes-Benz standards, and creates new benchmark in manufacturing for the luxury car industry in India. With teh sixth model now added to our local production portfolio, we are even better positioned than before to cater to the increasing market demand for our fascianting products. We will continue our local value addition and make the best of global products available for our discerning customers in India."

Mercedes-Benz India’s car manufacturing plant was set up in 2009 and is spread over 100 acres in Chakan near Pune. The production facility carries an investment of Rs 1,000+ crores and has an installed production capacity of 20,000 units annually.

Among the locally produced Mercedes-Benz models are popular luxury car models such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans and the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and the Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUVs. Imported as Completely Built Units include the recently launched Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class, Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet among others. The product portfolio also comprises the iconic off-roader Mercedes G 63 AMG as well as a wide range of other AMG performance cars like the CLA 45 AMG, E 63 AMG, SLK 55 AMG, GL 63 AMG, ML 63 AMG and the GLA 45 AMG.