Thaindian News

Pune, Dec 8 (IANS) German luxury automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz’s Indian subsidiary Wednesday announced the roll-out of its 30,000th locally assembled car.

The car, a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, rolled out from its factory here in the presence of the firm’s managing director and chief executive officer Wilfried Aulbur and senior executives.

“Mercedes recorded a year-on-year growth of 86 percent in January-November 2010. Considering aggressive growth, the company has decided to set up its own technologically advanced paint shop capable of water based painting going forward,” Aulbur said.

He said the paint shop, with an annual capacity of 20,000 units, would be operational by the second half of 2012.

This facility would take Mercedes-Benz’s total investment in Chakan plant to more than Rs.6 billion, he said.

“Within just two years since the new production facility was launched here, it has exceeded the capacity of one shift. We have started a second shift with immediate effect. Due to the high demand of our vehicles, we are now moving into permanent two-shift operations,” Aulbur said.

He said that while Mercedes had reached the 20,000th car mark in 2008, 13 years after the start of its India operations, the 30,000th car landmark was reached within a short span of less than three years.

“The luxury car market in India grew by approximately 65 percent in January-November 2010 while Mercedes-Benz India grew faster at 86 percent,” Aulbur said.

The company’s director of corporate affairs and human resources Suhas Kadlaskar added: “We have decided to increase the portfolio of locally produced cars beyond the S, E and C Class range starting 2013.”