"We have plans to set up a new plant in India which could come up in and around Pune, as we have a good supplier network in the area," Wilfried Aulbur, managing director and CEO, DaimlerChrysler India told PTI.
He said the company, which currently has a manufacturing facility in Pune, was looking to expand operations in the country as it expected the market for high-end products to grow in the coming time.
"We plan to manufacture products from our existing offerings in India in the proposed new plant. Also, it will give us possibility to expand in the future," Aulbur said.
He said the location for the new facility would be finalised "very soon", though refusing to divulge details on the proposed investments that could flow in.
DaimlerChrysler, which started local manufacturing of cars at its existing facility in Pune in 1995, has been making profits in India. "We have been making profits in India for a long time now... for around 6-7 years," he said.
Asked whether the new expansion plans in India would be funded fully by the parent or whether the Indian subsidiary will also contribute to it, he declined comment.
DaimlerChrysler, which sells the Mercedes Benz brand in India apart from tippers in the off-highway commercial vehicle range, sold 1,915 cars in 2005 which included 829 units of the 'C Class', 825 units of the 'E Class', 140 units of the top-end 'S Class' while the rest were CBU models.
Aulbur said sales in India were expected to be around 2,000 units in 2006. "By October end, we have sold 1,715 units and hope that overall sales growth is healthy for the full year, in line with our segment."
He said India was an important market for DaimlerChrysler and was poised to become "the next China". "The way forward is just going up... India is a very important part of our Asia strategy," Aulbur said.
Asked whether there were plans to launch Chrysler-branded vehicles in India, as the company had indicated a few years back, he said there were "no such immediate plans".
On the commercial vehicles side, the company has already sold around 50 units of the off-highway tippers, mainly used for mining.
Asked whether the company planned to launch commercial vehicles like buses and trucks, he refused a direct reply, saying, "We are looking at various options."
The company also launched its new-generation Mercedes Benz 'E Class' and a special edition 'E350'. "We have been able to present our Indian customers with the new generation E-Class within 5 months of its global introduction in June 2006.
"This is in line with our commitment to offer our Indian customers the very best products and technologies from the Mercedes Benz stable, in the least possible time," Aulbur said.
