Mercedes-Benz confirms AMG-GT for India in 2015

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that the high performance AMG-GT Coupe will be launched for the Indian market in 2015. Its flagship supercar is one of the 15 models that the German automaker has planned for the Indian market as a part of its 15 cars for 2015 strategy. The high performance coupe was announced and then unveiled last year. It is the Three Pointed Star’s answer to the likes of the Porsche 911 and Audi R8.
Speaking at the launch of the new C-Class diesel and the locally assembled C-Class petrol, Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO of the Indian operations said that they had brought the C-Class to India earlier than they had planned due to unexpectedly high demand from Indian customers.
The company has said that it has completed all the CBU spec orders for the C-Class petrol and will now soon begin deliveries of the locally assembled C-Class petrol. It must be noted that there is no change in the price of the India assembled car as Mercedes-Benz has added more features to the vehicle to justify the retention of the older price.

It is expected that this surge in demand will accelerate the commencement of the CKD operations for the diesel powered C-Class as well as the CLA sedan. It currently has a 35 per cent to 40 per cent rate of localisation for the models produced here but will increase this amount if there is a significant growth in volumes. The company has already setup an international purchasing office in India and has been working towards recruiting Indian suppliers for global operations.

Mercedes-Benz, globally, is undergoing a change in its nomenclature and the Indian operations will join the change at the same time. The first ‘changed’ model that is expected to be launched for the Indian market is the GLE which is basically a facelift of the current ML-Class SUV.
The German automaker has not shared any numbers but has said that the sales at the beginning of this year were brisk and positive and that it hopes that the trend will continue in this manner. It has however said that it is getting significant demand for its AMG spec performance models and is expected to continue focus on this even this year.
Despite the decrease in the gap between the price of diesel and petrol over the last few months, the company says the ratio of demand between the two fuels across its range being sold in the country is (D) 80:20(P) but that its productions lines are flexible enough to deal with any changes in demand. In the same vein the company has said that it is too early for hybrid and gas- powered models in India but like its flexible production lines is prepared to introduce the cars when the demand crops up. It must be noted that BMW is currently the only manufacturer among the big German three to offer a proper hybrid model (7 Series Active Hybrid) in India.
Finally with such an extended period of economic stability after nearly two years, the company hopes that the new budget will bring more economic sustainability to its operations here in India.