German luxury car major, Mercedes-Benz on Thursday launched another product from the AMG performance range, Ml 63 AMG. The sports utility vehicle (SUV) is being priced at Rs 1.49 crore (ex-showroom Delhi) and is another step towards expanding its AMG range of cars in the country. Along with the car, German auto manufacturer also launched its first AMG Performance Centre in the country.
The company also has aggressive expansion plans laid out for the current year. The company aims to expand its dealer ship network and launch three AMG Performance Centres in the country.The company, which now has six models under the AMG portfolio in the country, expects sales of the range to nearly double in the current calender year. Globally, the German car major sells around 30 variants of cars under the AMG portfolio.
"We have around 200 AMGs on India roads currently, sold over the last couple of years. This year, we are aiming to double the sales as compared to the units sold last year," Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Eberhard Kern said.When asked about the company' plans for further product launches in the current calender year, Kern said, "We have already launched four products so far in 2014 and would add another six by the end of the year."
He added that the company is looking for a double digit growth in the current year. "last year we grew by over 30 per cent. Even during the first quarter of this year we have posted a growth of 27 per cent over the corresponding period of previous year. We aim to achieve double digit growth during the year," Kern said.When asked about expansion plans, Kern stressed that the company is working on expanding its production facility as well as its dealership network across the country. He further added, "We currently have 64 outlets across 36 cities and by the end of the year, we plan to take the figure to over 70 dealerships across the country."
As far as capacity expansion goes, the company is already working on increasing the production at its Chakan plant. Kern further added that the expansion work at plant is at completion stage. "We are almost there. I think around 97 per cent of the work has been completed. It will effectively double our production capacity, taking the total to 20,000 units a year," Kern said. The company is in the process of investing Rs 250 crore on expanding the production capacity at its Chakan plant.
Commenting on the launch of the first AMG Performance Centre in India, Kern said the development marks new era for Mercedes-Benz in India. "We are launching two more centres at Bengaluru and Mumbai in the next two days," he added. Mercedes-AMG GmbH, Director (Branding and Marketing) Mario Spitzner also added, "India is still a niche market, a growing market for us. We certainly believe in this market in the long run."