Daimler Chrysler, makers of Mercedes Benz cars, said on Tuesday it expected to make its new manufacturing unit near Pune operational early next year with an annual production capacity of more than 9,000 units.
"We are at an advanced stage of finalising the land for our new plant and are confident of it making it operational before first half of 2007. We want to have our own plant to enhance our long term plans in India," Suhas Kadlaskar, Daimler Chrysler Director Corporate Affairs and Finance, said.
On Tuesday, the company also launched the new generation of E-Class models, Classic and Elegance, in the Indian market with a price tag of Rs 41 (Rs 4.1 million) to Rs 4.2 billion, a hike of Rs 125,000 against its models currently being sold in the market.
"The current plant at Chikhali is a rented factory and we wanted to have one of our own. We are looking at the industrial belts of Pune, Chakan, Ranjangaon and Talegaon for the same. The company has completed 10 years of its operation in India and it's time we moved on. Also, DC had outsourced components worth 100 million euros last year," he said.
Asked about the investment, he declined to comment. However, a company has to invest more than Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) to get incentives given to mega projects as per the policy of the Maharashtra government.
Currently, the company works in one shift and has a capacity to produce 4,000 vehicles, which can be scaled up to 9,000 if it operates in two shifts. Capacity is not an issue, Kadlaska said.
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