Mercedes Benz India (MBI) plans to begin assembly of the high end S-500 car in India, and the first of the locally made cars will roll out of the Chakan plant by April, Eberhard Kern, the company’s MD and CEO, has said.

This was launched in the Indian market earlier this month, and will be the first 8-cylinder car to be assembled in the country. The engine aggregates and gear box will also be assembled at Pune.

“The demand for the S-500 is quite high, and we will roll out the petrol variant first, and then bring in the diesel model later,” Kern said, adding that the capacity expansion was almost complete and the company would take a call on which other models it will produce here.

Today, to commemorate the roll out of the 50,000th made-in-India car, MBI launched a new C-Class Grand Edition, which has some added features. It has been priced at Rs 39.16 lakh and Rs 36 lakh for the diesel and petrol models respectively. The C-Class remains one of Mercedes-Benz’ best-sellers in the competitive entry level luxury sedan segment with more than 19,000 units sold till date.

Kern said that MBI plans to roll out 10 new models during 2014. With two new launches already done, the next two on the anvil are the CLA 45 and the ML-500 guard that will be launched in the market at the Delhi Auto Expo.

The Grand Edition C-Class has AMG body styling with front and rear apron and side sill panels and 17-inch 5-twin-spoke light alloy wheels with black AMG hub caps.

The exterior appointments include chromed tailpipe trims, Bi-Xenon headlamps, a finned radiator and tinted-panoramic glass sunroof with one-touch function.

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