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Mercedes Benz India aims to end 2015 as No 1 luxury car brand

Sales of Mercedes Benz India saw a 40 percent growth during January-March 2015 period, which is when they sold 3,566 cars. Meanwhile, their rival, Audi India sold 3,181 cars during the same period.

The first units of locally made GLA Class rolling off the new assembly line at Mercedes Benz plant in Chakan near Pune.

It was after 5 years that Mercedes Benz reclaimed the top spot in the luxury car market; beating Audi in the first quarter of this year. Though, for financial year 2015, Audi India maintained lead with 11,292 units sold as against 11,213 units sold by Mercedes Benz.

Now, Mercedes Benz India are hopeful that their sales momentum from Q1 2015 would continue for rest of the year. This will help them end the year 2015 as No 1 luxury car maker (a title which belongs to Audi India as of now – yearly sales). In order to continue with sales growth, the company has planned exciting new launches and expanding their dealer network to newer cities.

Apart from this, the company recently commissioned a third assembly line at its Chakan, Pune plant. This has taken their production capacity up from 10,000 units to 20,000 units. This third assembly line saw an investment of INR 150 crores while 150 persons were hired, taking overall headcount to 1,200.

The first car to roll out of the new assembly line was the locally made GLA Class, which has about 60% local content. Other cars which are locally manufactured at the Indian plant are C Class, E Class, S Class, GL Class and ML Class. Later this year, the company is expected to produce the A Class and B Class locally.

Mercedes Benz India plant in Chakan, near Pune.

Luxury car sales in India are expected to touch 40,000 units this year, a 21 percent increase over same period last year. Mercedes Benz India aims to take the largest pie of this growth in India; thereby retaining top spot among luxury automakers, especially two other German automakers, Audi and BMW.

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