Wednesday marked the 25 years of Mercedes-Benz operations in India. Ever since it entered the market in 1994, there’s no looking back for the largest luxury car maker in the country which has been steadily climbing up the ladder in terms of market share and has sold 1.1 lakh locally made cars.
The Stuttgart-based carmaker started assembling cars at Tata Motors’ (TELCO) facility. Fast-forward to 2009, the company has set up its manufacturing plant spread over 100 acres in Chakan, Pune.
Besides celebrating 25 years of making cars in India, Mercedes-Benz is also commemorating ten years of made-in-India cars. "25 years – that’s how long we have been assembling locally in India. To produce, where our customers are located, distinguishes our cars global production network: A maximum of flexibility, state-of-the-art digital technology and passionate people," said Jörg Burzer, member of the board of management, production and supply chain management of Mercedes-Benz AG.
The company has invested Rs 2,200 crore at its Chakan facility which is a crucial part of the carmaker’s global production network, said Burzer. In this facility, the company assembles nine different models which include the CLA, C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, Maybach S-Class in addition to SUVs which are the GLA, GLC, GLE and GLS models.
“The plant is leading the implementation of digital technologies and serves a very important role within the network, especially for setting up a new local assembly facility or ramp-up of series production across geographies,” Piyush Arora, executive director (operations), Mercedes-Benz India said. With a market share of 40 per cent, the three-pointed star is also deepening focus in tier 2 cities and beyond which contributes nearly one-third of total sales for Mercedes-Benz in India.
For the company, markets such as Bhubaneshwar, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Surat, Vadodara, Ludhiana, Jamshedpur, Guwahati, are some of the promising markets. It has also recently entered the capital of Chhattisgarh – Raipur.
"For us, emerging tier 2 markets are future growth engines and provide an opportunity to create a new customer base for the brand. The customers in these markets are affluent, well-travelled, highly aspirational and have a penchant for owning luxury brands," Martin Schwenk, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said.