[Revvmaster]

A couple of quick pointers:

1. All Mercedes-Benz cars assembled in India are painted at the Tata Motors paint shop since the day the W124 was sold in the country. Nothing wrong with that, since Tata Motors does an impeccable job and is up to MB standards. The volumes of MB haven't been too large to justify putting up a paint shop to date - it's terribly expensive to buy and run. In fact in most auto cos, half the water and electricity cost is due to the paint ship alone. Most players in this field also resort to getting panels pre-painted and shipped to India, so there's nothing new to it.

2. With a simple assembly operation, a manufacturer generally should not have any problem in allowing a journalist to click photos. In fact the areas that can be shot are clearly demarcated after the Corp Comm team consults with the Manufacturing team, so permissions are not too tough. Only complete manufacturing lines do have restrictions, which vary from auto co. to auto co.

[ad3952n]

If we refer to the reports from IAB then Mercedes-Benz India will roll out the 50,000th car out of its Chakan plant next Tuesday. The company has also announced that on this occasion, it will launch what it calls the ‘C-Class Grand Edition,’ another special edition of the C Class.

Presently, the Mercedes-Benz India plant assembles the C-Class, ML-Class, GL-Class, E-Class and S-Class. The company has been repeating that it is pushing its higher command to locally assemble the A-Class ever since its launch was welcomed with 400 bookings within 10 days. Both NGCC models are still CBUs.

The Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facility in Chakan has an annual capacity of 10,000 units. The company had recently said that come 2014, it will have a capacity of producing 20,000 cars a year. This takes the cumulative investment in its Indian operations to Rs 850 crore. The company also has a research and development centre alongside in Bengaluru.

The R&D centre began as a research institute with just 8 employees back in 1998 and has now grown to 850 employees. In fact, the Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) is the company’s largest R&D centre outside of Germany.

Mercedes-Benz also inaugurated its centre of excellence within the premises of its Chakan plant last year, building a helipad for prospective AMG customers to arrive at their convenience to configure their purchase.

Thanks

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Source: http://indianautosblog.com/2014/01/m...-launch-114029

[mtnrajdeep]

The research and development division in Bangalore is more than 1500 people strong now. I work there.

[mints21]

The research and development division in Bangalore is more than 1500 people strong now.

Dear Buddy, great to hear the correct information. The staff strength in itself reflects the commitment of Mercedes Benz towards the market. I am sure with this kind of staff strength for R&D they not only continue to improve their existing products but would be doing a lot of work on the products that are in the pipeline.

Generally these things do not get reported as more and more focus is taken by the launches, features and service related issues. Many do not realise the importance of R&D sector and may have no idea about the investment that goes in improvement of existing product and development of a new product.

The R&D centre began as a research institute with just 8 employees back in 1998 and has now grown to 850 employees.

AD, you sourced this information from indianautosblog, the information was not correctly reported by them. Now that we have clear information, please inform the concerned blog to correct the information as this will go a long way in educating all the automotive enthusiasts.

As a true automotive enthusiast we must constantly work on putting across correct facts as and we get to know them. Ultimately, all the enthusiasts have one thing in common " love for automobiles".

[vinjosep]

Originally Posted by mints21

....


AD, you sourced this information from indianautosblog, the information was not correctly reported by them. Now that we have clear information, please inform the concerned blog to correct the information as this will go a long way in educating all the automotive enthusiasts.

As a true automotive enthusiast we must constantly work on putting across correct facts as and we get to know them. Ultimately, all the enthusiasts have one thing in common " love for automobiles".

The initial strength for the centre in Bangalore was 10 and is hence close to the figure mentioned in the report. Its only the current strength that's not up to date

[SmartCat]

Lots of employees are brought from other companies on contract. My BIL used to work at Mercedes Benz, but his salary was paid by another company.

So I guess 850 people are on the rolls of Mercedes Benz but maybe 1500 people actually work there.

[Aditya]

Mercedes-Benz has become the first luxury car manufacturer to produce 50,000 cars in India. To celebrate this milestone, the company has rolled out a Grand Edition of its entry level sedan, the C-Class.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[kumarsiddhi]

Mercedes has launched (must say very discreetly) the C Class Grand Edition to commemorate the 50,000th car produced from its Chakan facility.

Autocar Link: http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...ed-370786.aspx

ET News Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/29503810.cms

The Mercedes-Benz C-class Grand Edition gets an AMG styling kit on the outside with front and rear aprons, side sills, 17-inch alloys with AMG hub caps and chrome tailpipes. The 'Grand Edition' badging appears on the wings. On the inside, it comes with a new brushed aluminium trim and in terms of features, the multi-function colour display now gets satellite navigation, and there's a new panoramic sunroof, in addition to the kit on the standard car.

Neither the petrol nor the diesel C-class Grand Edition see any changes mechanically and the C 220 CDI continues to be powered by a 167bhp 2,143cc turbo-diesel engine while the C 200 CGI retains the 186bhp, 1,796cc four-cylinder motor.

The Grand Edition is available on the C-class 220 CDI, priced at Rs 39.16 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune), and the Blue Efficiency C 200 for Rs 36.81 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom, Pune).

[Powersteer]

But when is the scheduled launch for the all new C-class? Isn't the launch date of that pretty close, in which case this could be treated as stock clearance.