India’s top luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Friday introduced its long wheelbase E-Class 220 d, a new variant of its luxury sedan E-Class.

The is the third variant of E-class after E350 d (diesel) and E200 (petrol) the company has launched in the past three months. E-Class is Mercedes’ largest selling model in India.

Priced at ₹57.14 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune), E220 d is powered by the carmaker’s all-aluminium engine OM 654. To be produced locally, the engine will deliver 143 kw of power at 400 NM of torque.

The E220 d takes just 7.8 seconds to hit 100 km/hr. It is 17 per cent lighter and burns 13 per cent lesser fuel than its predecessor, according to the company.

“This rollout also marks the India debut of our globally acclaimed new diesel engine,” said Roland Folger, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India said while unveiling the new E-Class at the company’s factory near Pune.

Mercedes-Benz India has clocked bookings of more than 1,000 units for E-Class variants since their launch and there is a waiting period of four-six weeks for those sedans.

OM 654 will be the fifth engine to be produced in India to power its cars. “We now make nine different vehicles locally at our Chakan facility, making it a leading CKD plant in the Daimler Group,” said Piyush Arora, Executive Director – Operations, Mercedes-Benz India.

Mercedes-Benz India’s volumes were flat at about 13,231 units in 2016 after two consecutive years of double digit growth. Its growth last year was affected largely due to a diesel vehicle ban in Delhi-NCR.

However, the company has begun 2017 with a strong growth in Q1. It registered its highest ever quarterly sales at 3,650 units in the January-March 2017 period.

Meanwhile, the company has announced price cuts in various models, as it has decided to pass on GST benefits ahead of implementation. The price reduction will vary between 2 and 9 per cent.

(The writer was in Pune at the invitation of Mercedes-Benz India)

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW