NEW DELHI: India’s largest luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz on Monday celebrated a historic milestone of rolling-out one lakh cars for the Indian market. The 100,000th car, which is an E-Class, rolled-out from the assembly line of company’s manufacturing facility at Chakan, by Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India and Piyush Arora, Executive Director, Operations, Mercedes-Benz India.
“The rollout of the 100,000th Mercedes-Benz vehicle in India is a strong testimony of the impeccable customer trust and the unsurpassable brand equity Mercedes-Benz enjoys in this dynamic country. The journey that began 24 years ago, as we pioneered the luxury car segment in the country, has only gotten more fruitful and today we remain the most preferred luxury brand in the country,” Roland Folger said, speaking on this historic occasion.
Mercedes-Benz was the first luxury automotive brand to start production in India and the W 124 E-Class was the first luxury car in the country, which rolled out of local assembly plant in Pimpri, Pune, in 1995. It took around 13 years (2008) to the company to roll out 20,000 cars from the first plant which moved to Chakan near Pune later. The Chakan facility is now a part of Mercedes-Benz’s Global Production Network and it plays an important role in the CKD/MVP production network in Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The company completed production of 30,000 cars in the country in next two years (2010) from the Chakan manufacturing facility. The production milestone of 50,000 cars achieved in around 19 years (2014) while the figure doubled in just four next years (2018).
Folger said that this achievement is a result of the absolute dedication of all past and present employees of Mercedes-Benz India, who remain our best brand ambassadors.
“This achievement also reiterates Mercedes-Benz’s India commitment and we strongly believe in the India story and it’s potential. We will further deepen our strong connect with the Indian customers and keep continuing to fascinate them with our products and customer service,” he added.
Being positive on the early achievement of the next production milestone, Folger said, “We pioneered luxury motoring in India and with our ‘customer delight’ approach and vision for future, we are confident of defining future mobility in India as well.”
With a heritage that goes back over 130 years and an illustrious history in India, Mercedes-Benz has inextricably been a part of the country’s automotive landscape.
Currently, the company has a local portfolio comprising nine key models in India including the new generation cars like the CLA, GLA; C-Class, E-Class and S-Class sedans; GLC, GLE, GLS SUVs; and the Maybach S 560.