Mercedes Benz to get new plant at Chakan, Pune

Mercedes Benz is now a well-established presence in India in the luxury car market, even though BMW is nipping at its heals. The company came to India 15 years back in association with Tata Motors, and later struck out on its own, and has done well too.

Now, the luxury car brand has decided to further establish its base on Indian soil by kicking off a new manufacturing facility at Chakan in Pune.

To be constructed on a sprawling 100-acre land, the new Mercdes Benz manufacturing facility is expected to go on-stream in another year’s time. Mercedes Benz Cars India till now has been operating its manufacturing operations from Chikhli in Pune. The existing facility was set up on land leased out by Tata Motors at Chikli.

With the new facility coming up, Mercedes Benz India has already moved out of that location in December 2008. The company officials said that the decision had come about once plans were in place for a bigger facility to meet future demand in the India luxury car market.

The new Chakan plant is being tailor-made to manufacture Mercedes-Benz C-Class, E-Class, and S-Class range of cars in India. The car-maker said that it would also be flexible enough to make other models from the German company’s stables on the same assembly line.

Mercedes-Benz India officials added that the new plant has ample space for expansion in the future. The company has already pumped in close to Rs 2.75 billion on setting up the new plant at Chakan. Mercedes Benz India has made its clear that it has achieved 5 per cent cost savings on the original budget for the new plant.

With the new move, the luxury car brand will be seen as marking the start of a new era for the company in India. It may be recalled that Mercedes Benz India had recently unveiled its Actros trucks in the country. The truck brand boasts of nearly 500 units in the marketplace and has pocketed a cool 20 per cent market share in that segment. Mercedes will also be bringing in its 3-axle coach and the City bus to India soon.