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Mercedes Benz M Class and GL Class to be assembled in India, supply starts 2013

Three automobile manufacturers are literally at war and each of them wants to secure or remain at the top slot in the luxury car segment. These are Audi, Mercedes Benz and BMW. Currently, BMW is on top followed by Audi and Mercedes Benz is at the third pedestal. Now in order climb back to the top position, Mercedes will be producing a majority of its offerings in India and chief among them will be the Mercedes Benz M Class and the Mercedes Benz GL Class. The in house production of these Mercedes Benz cars will begin early next year and it is expected that post that the price of these cars will come down giving an edge to the car maker against Audi and BMW.

In addition to India, these cars will also be locally produced in Indonesia and the Thailand where also these are imported as completely built units currently. It is believed that the in house production will serve two purposes. First, it will bring down the cost of the car and secondly, it will drastically reduce the delivery time of these cars. These two factors are expected to give a thrust to the demand and if there is demand, sales will be high and thus it will help the German car maker to regain its lost title of being the top luxury car maker in the country. No doubt, India is a major market for all these three car makers. All the three have laid a hectic schedule for them in the country and it is believed that soon the luxury car segment will shift to the under Rs 22 lakh as Audi and BMW are thinking of bringing cars in this price range.

It is reportedly known that Mercedes Benz has said that the M Class CKD kits will be brought in India from US and the supply will soon start. The M Class will be the fourth car that the car maker will be assembling in India. The other three are Mercedes Benz C Class, Mercedes Benz E Class and Mercedes Benz S Class. All these are luxury sedans and M Class will be the first Mercedes SUV to be assembled in the country. The locally assembled M Class and GL Class will roll out of the Pune plant in 2013.