"GLE
replaces Mercedes M-Class SUVs globally and all the future nomenclatures of
Mercedes SUVs will start with G", said Roland Folger, the new managing
director and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz India. Both these models shall be
locally manufactured by Mercedes at their Pune plant.
In
terms of engine specs, the 250 will come with a one litre, four cylinder,
turbocharged engine, which will put out 201 bhp along with 500 Nm of peak
torque, while the 350 comes with a V6, which will put out 254bhp and a maximum
torque of 620Nm. With the new GLE, Mercedes has also introduced the 9G-TRONIC
automatic transmission in India for the first time.
In
India, Mercedes has had a very good 2015. The company has registered a 41
percent year on year growth, in the period January to September, selling 10,079
units this year. This has resulted in a 34 percent growth in the first nine
months of this year.
"Mercedes
Benz has a formidable SUV portfolio, ranging from the GLA to the AMG G 63 in
India. This gives us a strong competitive advantage, resulting in our SUV
segment growing the fastest, at 70 percent, in the January to September 2015
period," said Folger.
Talking
about the impact of sales of diesel products after the Volkswagen diesel vehicle
emission fiasco, he said, "There has been no impact on the sales of Diesel
vehicles of Mercedes." He also talked about how Mercedes uses a different
strategy to keep its diesel car clean, but that technology has not been brought
to India as the Euro four standards in India do not demand it.
As
for the future, Mercedes plans to target newer areas, which haven't been
targeted earlier smaller cities like Jamshedpur and Raipur have seen dealerships
open this year. The company introduced 12 products this year and GLE is their
thirteenth product, with two more launches expected in 2015. Also, they have
simultaneously opened 80 sales outlets in 39 cities in India.
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