German luxury car-maker Mercedes-Benz is set to commission its expansion project at the Chakan plant near Pune, which will double its capacity to 20,000 units a year.

The company will also launch a new model on May 21, S-Class Guard, part of the 15 models planned for roll-out during the year.

“The Indian business has been growing at a fast clip and we expect to see a strong double-digit growth this year.

The first quarter this year has seen a strong growth of over 40 per cent, backed by a slew of new launches.

We expect to sustain this growth momentum,” said Eberhard Kern, Managing Director, Mercedes-Benz India.

Speaking on the sidelines of launch of an AMG Performance Centre in Hyderabad, Kern told BusinessLine : “The expanded capacity, set for launch soon, would see a total investment of about ₹1,000 crore and provide an opportunity to come out with more models.

We are currently offering 21 models in the country, including manufactured and CBUs (completely built units), and expect this number to go to 30 models by the year end.”

The company plans to launch another AMG Centre in Pune on Friday, taking the total number of such customer service centres in the country to five and to 400 across the world.

Mercedes-Benz AMG is the sports car and performance brand, which sold 47,632 units last year.

About 80 per cent of the Mercedes cars sold in India are now locally made. These include S, B, C, ML, GL and CLA class. “The roll-out of the C-Class diesel from the Chakan plant has helped us bring down the cost of the car by about ₹3 lakh. The localisation content has gone up to 60 per cent,” he said.

Last year, the company sold a record 10,201 units and during the first quarter 3,556 units, registering a growth of over 40 per cent against the same period last year.

Referring to the AMG cars, he said they currently offer seven models, which owners use for not just long drives but for daily commute, showing their versatile nature.

These models offer customisation option for buyers, he said.

comment COMMENT NOW