Mercedes-Benz to Finance Rs.400 crore in India for Localization of Models

Germany-Based automotive luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz India has expanded its financing in the country by about Rs.400 crore over a few months, taking the total investments to Rs.2, 600 crore. The luxury carmaker has now started local mass production of its AMG (Aufrecht Melcher GroBaspach) model which will give it a remarkable cost advantage over imported models and the company now manufactures eleven models in India.

The Company’s managing director and CEO Martin Schwenk told ‘The decision to localize a model is taken based on the potential of the vehicle to do well in a particular market’ and he also told that ‘We have to first regain 2019 levels and then we can be confident of an increased offtake of luxury cars, especially the ones manufactured locally’.

In 2019, the Mercedes-Benz sold over 13,000 luxury automobiles in the country and giving it a third of the market share in the sub 40,000 luxury car segment. However, the automaker has the dimensions to produce 20, 000 units annually.

In a statement, the company said the local manufacturing and production of the AMG model brings down its cost by over 20 per cent and with this, the Mercedes-Benz India will be manufacturing new generation automobiles, SUVs, sedans, and now the AMG model performance automotive in one facility.

Moreover, the automobile manufacturer sold just 5, 007 cars as car manufacturers across segments suffered during the coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic.

Furthermore, the decision to localize a model is taken based on the potential of the automobile to do well in a particular market or segment and also local manufacturing brings down its value by over 20 per cent.

The annual sales of the Mercedes Benz car manufacturers were over 13,000 units, last year.