Mercedes-Benz commences local assembly of CLA and GLA-Class

With the commencement of local assembly in India, the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class and GLA-Class have become more affordable

In a bid to make itself more competitive in the compact luxury vehicle segment, Mercedes-Benz has commenced local assembly of the CLA-Class compact luxury sedan and the petrol fueled 200 Sport variant of the GLA-Class compact SUV in India. Local assembly of these compact luxury vehicles have commenced at Mercedes-Benz India’s Chakan plant in Pune, Maharashtra.

Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India and Piyush Arora, Executive Director, Operations, Mercedes-Benz India were present at the inauguration of the local assembly line for these cars.

Eberhard Kern commented on the occasion by saying, “The CLA with its stunning design, technological innovations and multiple segment first attributes, is already a winning product in our portfolio. It has been rapidly acquiring new customers to the brand and replicating its global success in India as well. We are extremely satisfied with our CLA strategy, which has contributed majorly to our New Generation Cars growth and redefined the segment completely. We are confident that the local production will make the CLA even more attractive for the discerning buyers with additional value propositions and increased availability.”

Piyush Arora said, “The start of local production of the CLA simultaneously in petrol and diesel variants is a key decision that will help curtail the long wait list for the sedan. Our ‘future readiness’ with the new manufacturing facility is bearing fruits as we started the production of both the CLA and the petrol GLA from the new assembly lines. We are glad to offer world-class products to our Indian customers with significant local value addition, in the shortest possible time.”

Now that these cars are locally assembled in the country, they have are subject to lower tax rates. The standard versions of the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class are now priced in the range of Rs. 30.70 lakh to Rs. 33.90 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Starting at Rs. 30.70 lakh is the 200 CDI Style variant of the CLA-Class that is now Rs. 80,000 more affordable. At Rs. 32.90 lakh, the 200 Sport version is now Rs. 2.10 lakh more affordable than earlier. While the 200 CDI Sport variant is now Rs. 2 lakh more affordable than earlier. The AMG variant of the CLA-Class will continue to remain an import.