German luxury carmaker Mercedes Benz, which occupies a numero uno position in the country, is not putting on hold investment in India as there is a significant change in the perception of the Government and the judiciary on diesel issue.
“Government of India through its Attorney General has put in perspective the diesel issue to the Supreme Court and the court heard AG’s arguments patiently. We are hopeful on the issue,” said Mercedes Benz India Managing Director and CEO Roland S Folger.
“The presumption that bigger diesel engines create more pollution is not correct as bigger diesel cars have better emission norms,” Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told a three- judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur.
“Besides, putting on hold investment is no alternative because what you have already invested is invested. And situation is not as bad as it was two three months ago and things have improved. So, we are not putting any investment on hold,” Folger added.
Folger, in the month of May had said : “Most of the decisions are postponed rather than being completely cancelled. If the ban (on sale of larger diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR) continues, then certainly cancellations will come into play.”
Talking about Monsoon he said that it was very good for the country and good Monsoon betters the customer sentiments and as a whole it impacts positively sales of auto companies.
Meanwhile, further consolidating its presence in the performance motoring segment, the company on Tuesday launched its 6th product AMG SlC 43. AMG 43 is priced at Rs 77.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
“We launched 6th product of this year AMG SlC 43 and remaining 6 more products will be launched in the next coming five months of the year,” Folger said.
“With the launch of AMG SlC 43 we continue to follow our top of pyramid approach and take pride in offering the widest range of performance vehicles,” he added.
‘The company has strategic focus on the AMG brand in India,” Folger said.
“Our AMG portfolio has seen tremendous success and we are thrilled to add yet another superlative driving experience to our portfolio. It is an exciting time for Mercedes-Benz and our success in the luxury car segment underlines that our strategy to focus on the top of the pyramid products is paying off rich dividends,” Folger added.
The car, which comes with a toned down 3 litre V6 petrol engine, can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.7 seconds.