BMW India’s arch rival, Mercedes Benz India Limited may have lost its number 1 position however they are diversifying into various branches of the automotive businesses. They have been busy in launching their buses as well as heavy duty vehicles in India. To support this venture, the company recently opened a new service center in Chandigarh for its buses. This service station is spread across an area of over 30,000 square feet. It has a capacity to service about 2 buses on a daily basis.
The luxury bus market is currently pegged at around 700 units per annum and the growth rate is expected to be 20% each year. Due to this very reason, the company has been investing to provide for more after sales facilities to cater to the growing demand. Meanwhile, its passenger car division rolled out their 30,000th car assembled in India from Chakan plant in Pune. It was the company’s mid-size luxury car, the Mercedes E-class E 350 Cdi. This plant has an annual capacity of 20,000 and now since the company has started a second shift, the production capacity has been increased to 40,000.
Even though the company only has a waiting period for the Mercedes SLK, due to it been a CBU and built to order case, the company has been steadily increasing its production capacity over the years. As of now, the flagship Mercedes S-class, Mercedes E-class and the Mercedes C-class are assembled in India. By the later half of 2012, the company would also have set up a state of the art paint work shop. By 2013, the entire Mercedes Benz cars would be produced locally. This would widen the appeal of the cars since they cater only to a premium segment due to their very high price compared to the competitors.