Mercedes-Benz will unveil its compact car for India, the A-Class or the B-Class at the upcoming 2012 Auto Expo. The German automaker will officially launch its first compact car in the Indian market by the end of next year and will bring them down as CKD. The cars will be assembled at the company’s plant in Chakan, Pune and the company does not have the facility to manufacture them in India yet. The compact cars will be launched in left-hand drive versions by the end of 2011 and once the right-hand drive version is available, it will be brought to India. Pricing of the compact car from Mercedes-Benz is expected to range between Rs. 15-20 lakhs.
“Initially, cars with Left Hand Drive option, manufactured at our facilities in Germany and Hungary, will be introduced in Europe later this year. We plan to bring them to India by 2012-13 as Completely Knocked Down (CKD) units. Right now we don’t have the facility to manufacture the compact class at our Chakan facility near Pune,” Peter Honegg, MD and CEO, Mercedes Benz India, said.
