Mercedes India in their slow regain of the Indian luxury car market are very keen that they don’t lower the prices of their cars to compete with the other luxury car manufacturers in India. This is what Mr. Peter Honegg, the CEO and Managing Director of Mercedes India had to say. This inspite of his acknowledgement that India is a price conscious market. His remarks were a retort to BMW keeping their prices lower than Mercedes. He said that as of now Mercedes are concentrating on increasing their sales figures in the Indian market. The company is also focused on further developing the bus building plant in Chakan, Pune. The other thing which is bothering the company is the definition of CKD units which has taken on a new dimension after the 2011 Union Budget in India. Mercedes are actually looking to increase the amount of localization of components which currently stand at 36 %.
Mr Honegg further clarified that for the bus building unit in Pune, he was awaiting the go ahead from the mother plant in Germany. It is said that within 3-4 weeks, the entire setup would be up and running. As of now, Mercedes produces the chassis parts at the Chakan facility whereas the complete assembly is done in Punjab at Sutlej Motors. Mercedes has full plans to unveil city buses and give a tough competition to Tata Motors. Projected sales figures for Mercedes passenger cars is being put at 6000 units. Mercedes has already got an enviable collection of show rooms amounting to 29 all across India.
