Kolkata, Oct 9 (IANS) Premium auto maker Mercedes-Benz plans to roll out triple-axle intercity luxury coaches on Indian roads in financial year 2010-2011, a top company official said here Friday.
“We’re planning to run triple-axle commercial vehicle on the Indian roads in the next 6-12 months. We have also decided to start trial of our three-axle vehicles,” Wilfried Aulbur, managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India Pvt Ltd, told mediapersons here during the launch of its third-generation heavy earth-moving vehicle - Actros 4841K.

He said the company was evaluating the three-axle premium commercial vehicle segment in India, as it was willing to enter this particular market.

Asked when exactly the company would foray into the triple-axle segment, Aulbur said: “We’ll get into that space in near future.”

He said Mercedes-Benz was setting up a manufacturing facility in Chennai as part of its Euro 700 million (Rs.4,500 crore) investment plan to produce commercial vehicles for the Indian volume market and export.

The company has already set up a production unit in Pune with an investment of Rs.250 crore that has independent assembly facilities for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 3,625 cars, 240 trucks and 15 units of luxury buses last year.

“We are expecting to sell roughly the same units which we sold last year. We are eyeing 20 percent of year-on-year (YOY) growth in the current fiscal also,” Aulbur said.