Mercedes-Benz is celebrating 25 years of local production in India. Local production of Mercedes-Benz cars began in 1994 with a tie up with Telco (Tata Motors) and the first car to be locally assembled was the W124 E-Class E220 at the Telco’s production faclity. This was followed by the E250D. The local entity, Mercedes-Benz India was also formed in the same year.
Mercedes-Benz India inaugurated a new plant in 2009 at Chakan in Pune. The plant is spread over 100 acres and is the site where ‘Made in India’ Mercedes-Benz cars are produced today. There are 730 people working at the plant. The Chakan plant also celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2019. A host of Mercedes-Benz models are today locally assembled at Chakan. These include the C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, CLA Coupé, Maybach S-Class and the SUVs GLA, GLC, GLE and GLS. The plant is equipped with Virtual Reality technology and other state-of-the-art digital manufacturing technologies which will roll-out to other assembly plants worldwide.
“25 years –that’s how long we have been assembling locally in India. To produce, where our customers are located, distinguishes our Mercedes-Benz Cars global production network: A maximum of flexibility, state-of-the-art digital technology and passionate people. As the country’s largest luxury carmaker, both anniversaries celebrated this year are significant landmarks for us, the region of Pune and an important sign for the local luxury car market in India”, states Jörg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz AG, Production and Supply Chain Management.
Martin Schwenk, Managing Director & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India said, “Completion of 25 years for Mercedes-Benz is a significant milestone and is a tribute to our customers who have been appreciating our products and services and the unparalleled luxury brand experience associated with Mercedes-Benz. This success is also a result of the relentless contribution of passionate people behind the brand, which includes our employees, dealer partners, their teams and our suppliers. We have one of the best teams working for the Three Pointed Star who are highly involved and eager to create new benchmark in their areas of work”