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Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday said diesel engines still have a bright future in India because of various options available and they will co-exist with petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains.
Even though prices of diesel and petrol are getting narrower in the country, the diesel engine would continue to be in demand , Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mercedes-Benz India, told BusinessLine on the sidelines of a launch here.
“We will still see the internal combustion engine being a main engine, but we also believe the diesel has a strong future here in India. Globally also, we would see that it would be complemented with plug-in hybrids (PHVs) and battery/ electric in the foreseeable future,” he said.
The company is evaluating on all possibilities of bringing such cars here as and when the demand grows for such products, he said.
But most of these products have to be brought in as completely built units (CBUs) as supply chain in India is not ready yet. “We mostly rely on the CBU because we have the broadest range and varieties available, but also their sales are relative in numbers so we have to look into the overall viability of the products. So, we don’t see a huge potential for localisation right now,” Schwenk said.
Localisation focus
The company, however, is always in discussions for more localisation in India, he said. Mercedes-Benz India already produces nine product lines in the Chakan plant in Maharashtra.
“We are in discussions with what we do but have not finalised anything as yet. But we believe wherever we see reasonable demand from the market, we can have a good proposition which would allow us to localise the local assembly of the vehicles, but it would also then give us several opportunities for local sourcing of parts,” Schwenk added.
Meanwhile, the company launched the new Mercedes-AMG C 43 4Matic Coupé with price starting at ₹75 lakh (ex-showroom, India).
It is for the first time this car is being launched in India.
With the launch of this latest AMG, Mercedes-Benz India now has more than 15 AMG and performance cars in its portfolio.
The two-door Coupé is powered by a 3-litre V6 biturbo engine, producing 287kW of power and 520 Nm of torque, which accelerates the vehicle from standstill to 100 km/h in a mere 4.7 seconds, the company said.
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