DaimlerChrysler on Wednesday began work on its new greenfield plant at Chakan, near Pune, in a bid to tap the booming demand in the country.
PUNE: German luxury car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler on Wednesday began work on its new greenfield plant at Chakan, near Pune, in a bid to tap the booming demand in the country. The European car major will invest Rs 275 crore to produce 5,000 vehicles per annum.
DaimlerChrysler, which expects the plant to be operational by the beginning of 2009, also plans to manufacture commercial trucks at the facility The company, which sold 50 units of its Actros model in 2006, currently imports them.
DNA Money was the first to report about Daimler’s move in its edition dated March 23, 2007.
“The new facility would manufacture 5,000 Mercedes cars from 2009. The capacity can be expanded further. We are also looking at setting up a truck facility. However, no final decision has been taken yet,” said DaimlerChrysler India, chairman of the board, Joachim Schmidt.
The company also plans to introduce the new C-Class model in India by the year-end, he added.
Daimler currently manufactures 2,000 vehicles every year from its Pimpri facility. The facility would be moved to the new plant from 2009 in a phased manner. The Pimpri land was on lease from Tata Motors, which also has a facility in the vincity.
Daimler is also actively working on alternative fuels and has invested Rs 6.5 crore in the last five years to acquire 40,000 litres of bio-diesel made from Jatropha. The fuel was supplied by the Bhavnagar-based CSMCRI refinery and University of Hohemheim Germany.
At present eight Mercedes models are being driven 100% on this bio-diesel.
The company is running some Mercedes models on CNG in Singapore and Thailand market and was exploring the possibility of using the same in India.
“We have entered into an agreement with ADM and Bayer for the supply of the fuel and are working on the finer details like the investment, total area under cultivation, the area where it will be cultivated…We expect to finalise it soon,” said a Daimler official.
The company sold a total of 2,121 vehicles in 2006 in India posting a 11% growth over the previous year. Its component sourcing business also showed a 20% growth.
“We are actually sourcing more components from India than our net revenues from the Indian operations; hence we are a net exporter from India. Daimler is the largest European company to source from this market,” said Wilfried Aulbur, Daimler India chief executive officer and manading director.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}