Sometimes car sales are expected to take a big jump in the most unlikely of places. Sometimes our conception of “the most unlikely of places” isn’t entirely accurate, as Mercedes-Benz India has indicated today.
In an announcement, the car company said that it expected sales of its luxury cars to reach 3000. That figure is based on the sales from last year, which reached 2491 surprisingly. The growing demand for luxury cars in India is something Mercedes-Benz fully intends to take advantage of.
“Across India there is a significant demand for luxury cars and luxury products. For us this is very encouraging as it indicates that the economic development in the last few years is paying off,” company’s Managing Director and CEO Wilfred Aulbur told journalists.
Already this year, Mercedes-Benz India has sold 1300 cars in the first four months.
Mercedes-Benz also apparently has interest in the luxury bus sector in India. Partnering with Sutlej Motors to create the body of a potential model for a luxury bus, Mercedes-Benz India hopes to launch a potential bus model in the second half of this year.
To meet these requirements, Mercedes-Benz is opening up a new manufacturing facility at Chakan in Pune. This plant will be built on a 100 acre area and plans to manufacture some 5000 passenger cars and 1200 commercial vehicles each year. The demand for such a factory is immense and Mercedes-Benz quite simply can’t build it fast enough to meet the immense rising demands in India.
At this point, Mercedes-Benz locally manufactures S Class, E class and C class cars in India and imports Mercedes Benz S class, M class, CL class and popular SLK class and CLS class as completely built units. There are hopes to expand the capability of the local manufacturers to create an even more solid production base in India, helping Mercedes-Benz India compete with other car companies around the world.
