German luxurious carmaker Mercedes-Benz will invest Rs 200 crore in India this 12 months on new products, manufacturing operations, and digitisation to strengthen its place after posting report gross sales of 17,408 items in 2023, a high firm official mentioned on Monday.
Santosh Iyer, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, highlighted the corporate’s plans to mark 30 years in India by investing a further Rs 200 crore into their Pune manufacturing unit, bringing the full funding in India to Rs 3,000 crore.Â
“This year marks a special year as we celebrate 30 years of Mercedes-Benz in India. We are going to invest Rs 200 crore more in our factory in Pune. This requires a total investment of Rs 3,000 crore in India now. So that’s a strong statement of intent,” Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Santosh Iyer advised PTI.
The 12 months 2023 marked a major milestone as the corporate achieved its highest-ever gross sales in India, recording 10 per cent development with 17,408 items offered. This surpassed their earlier finest in 2022, after they reached 15,822 items.
For 2024, Iyer expressed optimism about aiming for “double-digit” development regardless of potential fluctuations in provide and demand. Currently, the corporate has an order financial institution of three,000 items.
Mercedes-Benz India has plans to introduce over 12 new automobile traces in 2024, together with three electrical autos, half of which will probably be in the top-end automobile phase priced at Rs 1.5 crore onwards. Emphasising the corporate’s focus on EVs, Iyer famous that these autos constituted 4 per cent of whole gross sales in 2023 and skilled triple-digit development.
SUVs stay a good portion, accounting for 55 per cent of whole gross sales, whereas sedans comprise 45 per cent.
Looking forward, Iyer anticipates EVs contributing to 20-25 per cent of their gross sales throughout the subsequent 4 years. To improve customer support accessibility, Mercedes-Benz India plans to set up 20 new workshops in 10 new cities.
Commenting on Tesla’s potential entry into the Indian market, Iyer expressed confidence in the federal government’s insurance policies, emphasising the necessity for a stage enjoying discipline for each current and new producers investing in India.
“We have always been supportive of free trade and imports as long as it is a level playing field for the existing investments and for the new ones,” Iyer mentioned.
(With PTI inputs)
