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Yesterday, Mercedes-Benz India inaugurated their new facility in Navi Mumbai. Located at the Satra Plaza building, next to the Palm Beach Galleria Mall - this facility is a part of Shaman Wheels Pvt. Ltd.
High Points:- This new facility is spread over 5,000 sq.ft. with an investment of over Rs. 2.5 crore. A service workshop will follow in due time.
- Service center inaugurated at Churchgate, Mumbai; spread over 45,000 sq.ft. carrying an investment of Rs. 3.5 crore.
- Mercedes-Benz now claims to have the widest reach by any luxury car maker with 57 outlets across 32 cities.
- Shaman has been associated with Mercedes since 4 years now
- Also present at the event was the 2013 GL 350 CDI, more on that in the next post.
Ace tennis player Boris Becker was supposed to be the highlight of the event, but was not to be found in the crowd that gathered inside this new facility.
Mr. Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
Here's what I meant when i said crowd, this kept increasing as the clock kept ticking.
UPDATE: The Mercedes-Benz GL-Class (GL 350 CDI) has just been laucned at a price of Rs. 77.50 lakhs ex-showroom Delhi. See post #9 below for more launch details.
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Please note that this was just a preview of the new GL-Class and no details have been shared, hence we will wait till the actual launch to quote any figures. 
That's the upcoming GL-Class for us in India.
There are no boasting lines flowing across the body, it's a stylish yet neat looking SUV. Notice the wheels, MB tells us that the new GL might have the AMG styling bits.
LEDs & projector headlamps. Chrome lip on the front bumper running across the full length.
BIG 3 pointed star at the front. Below it is the camera to aid parking.
LED tail lamps under the nomenclature.
LEDs on the ORVMs are familiar territory.
AMG type alloy wheels. Let's wait till the car is actually launched with these.
The fuel filler area is very wide, like it can accommodate 2 fuel filler caps.
The 350 CDI heart. More on the state of tune post the official launch.
No nonsense dashboard, not cluttered with too many buttons.
Steering wheel looks very classy with the silver accents.
Easy to read instrument cluster. Notice that it mentions if the rear seats are not locked in place properly.
Gear selector resembles the control stalks. The use of plastic here feels cheap. Not something you expect from a brand like Mercedes.
Tastefully designed air-con controls look very classy.
Rotary headlamp on/off switch, typical of German vehicles. Though note that there is actually no "off" position.
MB scuff plate on the body, and a step up plate with grooves for better grip outside.
Electric seats with memory function and adjustable lumbar support.
Spacious foot-well :D
Loaded driver door pad.
Controls for the MID and the vehicle.
Temperature controlled cup holders.
Sunroof controls.
Rear seats recline toward a very comfortable position.
2nd row flips forward manually for access to the last row of seats.
2nd row tumble down is in 2 stages. Exposed areas do not have any ugly bits.
2nd row AC controls and the multimedia pre-outs below.
Screens are mounted on both of the front seat-backs.
A father-son duo happy to help us get a better perspective of the 3rd row space.
3rd row specifically for 2.
Placed next to the 2nd row door, these controls unlock the 3rd row seats for tumble down ....
....and this what happens, without too much effort.
3rd row tumble down buttons are also placed in the boot area.
Available cargo space sans the 3rd row. (The luggage-cover bar is removable).
A power socket and illumination in the cargo section.
3 sun-roofs! All 3 rows can have a look at the stars.
Spare wheel with the required tools in the boot. Not mounted on the rear door.
Some happy feet stepped on the multimedia console to break it open.
The reason for the fuel filler cap to be so wide, is to accommodate the urea additive tank's filler mouth there. I have seen it in Q7 Tdi in the states and Canada. Just a thought :p .
The additional space is probably to accommodate an Adblue tank on a variant with a bluetec engine.
The new GL-class launching tomorrow. Tennis legend Boris Becker is expected to attend!
Source:
Autocar India
Today, Mercedes-Benz along with the tennis legend Boris Becker have launched the GL-Class (GL 350 CDI) in India
priced at Rs. 77.50 lakhs ex-showroom Delhi.
High Points:- The 2987cc engine coupled with 7G-TRONIC Plus Automatic transmission
- Can do the 0-100kph sprint in 7.9 seconds
- Power: 258 bhp @ 3600 rpm (34 bhp more than outgoing model).
- Torque: 619 Nm @ 1600-2400 rpm (109 Nm more than outgoing model).
- Segment innovations: 360° camera, Cross-Wind Stabilization, Open pore trim, Active Park Assist, Sunroof for all three rows.
- India will be the second market after USA to locally produce the GL-Class, starting Q3 of 2013.
- The GL-Class was first introduced in India in 2010.
- Big on space: 630-1252-2300 liter boot capacity
- The new GL-Class is equipped with DSR, ESP, 4ETS, 4MATIC, AIRMATIC, etc.
- Length of 5120 mm (+32 mm longer), width of 1934 mm (+4 mm) and height of 1840 mm (+10mm) make new GL longer, wider and taller than its predecessor.
- The debut of the new GL will be as the “Launch Edition”. This limited edition variant will be offered as fully imported car and will have additional features like AMG body styling comprising front and rear apron painted in body colors, 21-inch AMG 5 twin-spoke light-alloy, aluminium finish running boards with LED illumination, flared wheel arches and more.
From L to R: Mr. Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India & Mr. Boris Becker with the 2013 GL-Class.
Link to News Section
During the launch of the GL-Class SUV earlier this year, Mercedes Benz India announced that it would begin CKD assembly of its flagship SUV in the next few months.
AutocarIndia reports that the GL-Class SUV's CKD assembly will begin from August 26th, 2013, at Mercedes Benz India's Chakan assembly facility. Interestingly, India will be the second country in which the GL-Class SUV is locally assembled.
The GL-Class's other assembly facility is situated at Mercedes Benz's mother plant at Tuscaloosa, USA. Since Mercedes Benz India considered CKD assembly while pricing the first batch of the CBU imported GL-Class, the SUV will continue to retain its 77.5 lakh rupee price tag at which it was launched during May 2013. The 2013 Mercedes Benz GL-Class SUV is powered by a 3 liter V6 turbo diesel engine that outputs 258 Bhp of peak power and 619 Nm of peak torque.
The engine is mated to a 7 speed automatic transmission, that drives all four wheels of the SUV through the 4MATIC four wheel drive system. The GL-Class SUV is a seven seat SUV that takes on the likes of the Audi Q7 and the BMW X5. Notably, Audi India has already begun assembling the Q7 from CKD kits at its Aurangabad facility. Although BMW CKD assembles the likes of the X1 and X3 Crossovers, the X5 SUV continues to be imported into India through the CBU route.
With both the Mercedes Benz GL-Class and the Audi Q7 SUVs hopping onto the CKD route, it might be just be a matter of time before BMW also takes the CKD route for the X5. Audi India leads sales charts after 7 months of 2013, with total sales of 5,551 units, compared with Mercedes Benz India's 4,575 units. BMW India, is said to be relegated to third place in the Indian luxury car market, and the car maker hasn't revealed numbers for the first 7 months of this year.
Hello Guys,
I am not sure if this is the right section to post into. If it is wrong, moderators, please move the thread to the right forum section.
I have a mid 2015 Merc GL350 currently. The navigation maps version currently installed is India 2014 v3. It is very outdated as it does not show most new flyovers in Mumbai, even those that have been working since the past 2-3 years. I went to my local dealer and asked them to check if there was an update available for the maps version. They gave the car back to me saying that they did update the maps but the version still shows 2014 v3. When asked, the dealer said it is normal and the version does not indeed show any changes. I find this strange because if the new update was installed the version should change.
Does anyone know what is the latest version of maps available from merc for the gl350 after the 2014 v3 ?
I called up the merc toll free number 1800-102-9222 and they seem to be equally clueless about it.
Thanks heaps for any help anyone can offer.
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