Mercedes-Benz has commenced the assembly of the GL-Class from today at their facility in Pune. It is priced at Rs 72.58 lakh (ex-showroom Maharashtra). The car was first launched in India on the 16th of May at a price of Rs 77.50 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), with 100 launch edition GL-Class models, all of which were sold as CBUs. The local assembly has helped Mercedes to bring down price considerably and enable the GL-Class to compete with the Audi Q7.
In India, the GL350 CDI is the variant on offer and is powered by a 3.0-litre V6 mill that produces 259PS and 619Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a 7G-Tronic gearbox which transmits power to all four wheels viathe 4Matic all-wheel drive system.
On the features front, the GL-Class is equipped with Airmatic suspensions, adaptive brakes and hill decent control with nine airbags and a 360-degree view camera as standard. Three standard colour schemes of black, white and silver are on offer along with an optional audio system from Bang & Olufsen with a total output of 1200W from 14 speakers.
India is the first plant outside the US to assemble the GL-Class and is a clear indication of the growing demand for SUVs in India and how crucial the market is for global auto manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz aims to improve the production capacity of the plant to 20,000 units by the end of this year, and the GL-Class will be the seventh model to roll out from the facility along with the A-Class, B-Class, C-Class, E-Class, S-Class and the M-Class.
