Big news from the German automaker Mercedes Benz. Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India has decided to produce its high-end performance AMG vehicles sub-brand in India.
In a strategic decision to boost the sales of AMG cars, Mercedes-Benz has decided to commence the local production of ‘AMGs in India’.
AMG is the luxury sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz with a wide range in India of luxury limousines, performance SUVs, SUV coupés, and sports cars. Sold via the AMG Excellence Centres in Indian metros, the brand has a dedicated retail presence.
Currently, AMG performance cars are imported as CBU and attract a hefty tax. Local assembly means a drop in price and more AMGs on the road. It’ll also make the AMG brand more accessible for those looking to buy a spicy Mercedes.
In figures, the GLC 43 when imported via the CBU route costs a staggering INR 1 Crore. However, when locally built the CKD unit of GLC 43 will cost INR 80 lakhs. So yes, this will boost sales for the AMG cars in India since BMW’s M performance and Audi’s RS variants are still imported via the CBU route hence being more expensive.
Commenting on the AMG decision on localization, Piyush Arora, Executive Director,
“Our manufacturing facility is a global benchmark in quality and technical innovation in manufacturing, and remains the cornerstone of our growth story in India,” Mercedes-Benz India’s Director of Operations said. We are extremely excited to start the local production of AMG in India as it will add a new production milestone to our journey in India, further deepening our commitment to the Indian market. The decision to start localizing the AMG GLC 43 4MATIC Coupé strongly reiterates our substantial manufacturing capabilities and manufacturing creativity built over the past two decades. With major local value-added, we are pleased to deliver world-class goods to our Indian customers in the shortest possible period.”
Yes, you heard him. The Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 4 Matic Coupe will be the very first AMG to roll off the factory line from the company’s Chakan manufacturing facility. Kits for the performance-oriented Mercedes will be imported and assembled at the Indian plant. It will be priced around Rs 80 lakh (ex-showroom), making it around Rs 20 lakh cheaper when compared to a fully imported model. The price gap between the performance-oriented GLC and the standard model will also reduce to Rs 17.30 lakh!
Currently in India Mercedes-Benz has eight AMG models in the country across the 43, 53, 63 and GT series. Prices for all of these vehicles will be slashed making your dream of owning a tire-shredding AMG a step closer to reality.
Let’s talk about the car in question: Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 4-Matic Coupe. Powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 powerplant that cooks 385PS of power and 520Nm. Power is transferred to all fours via a 9-speed automatic gearbox. Pedal-to-metal and the GLC 43 does 0-100kmph in a whopping 4.7 seconds. Bring out the GLC 63 and watch it go neck-on-neck with the Porsche Macan.
The brilliant GLC 43 battles out with Jeep Grand Cherokee, BMW X5, Jaguar F-Pace, Volvo XC90.
Recently, BMW India also launched the performance-oriented M SUV, X3 M in India.
