[Venkatesh]

Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday announced it is all set to become the first manufacturer to localize production of performance cars in India and the AMG GLC 43 4MATIC Coupe will be the first 'Made in India' AMG product to roll out of its assembly line.

AMG performance cars will now join the ranks of 10 CKD (Completely Knocked Down) models across segments that Mercedes already rolls out from its production facility in Chakan, near Pune. The current AMG portfolio comprises of the 43, 53, 63, and GT series of high performance vehicles across different body shapes. These have thus far been brought in through the CBU (Completely Built Unit) route.

The decision to locally produce AMG in India underlines Mercedes-Benz’s clear roadmap for the Indian market and our long-term commitment to our Indian customers," said Martin Schwenk, Managing Director an CEO, Mercedes-Benz India. "We want AMG to be more accessible to the potential customers and play a bigger role in our overall portfolio we offer in India. This decision is an important milestone towards strengthening our AMG ambitions in India further.

https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto...185480004.html

[agambhandari]

Fantastic work by Merc I believe and this should give us more performance oriented options across the segment. For eg: An A45 AMG around the price of an E class would be my pick given the e class is too big to use day to day and performance would be priority.
Hopefully the 63 models are also made later on, but with preserving their one man, one engine philosophy with the Engines imported completely handmade from Affalterbach.

Hope the Competitors are listening. BMW with their M40i models and Audi with their S models with realistic prices are the perfect upgrades for people that are grabbing vRS at the moment.

[991.2GT3]

Expected price ~ 80L. Not really much of a difference from a consumers POV considering the pre-facelift was retailing at 75L ex showroom. Even for the GLE53 coupe (essentially a dressed-up 43) they bumped up the priced by a good ~25L vs the 43 coupe that was on sale till 2019.

I believe such outrageous pricing of launches (Q2, 2 series, GLE53 etc) by the German trio is because they've factored in the big discounts that anyone shopping in this segment expects. After all, Indians LOVE to get a good deal!

[GrandTourer]

Hopefully they don't start sourcing OEM parts locally too. VW did that and we all know how long the brakes and suspension for the Polo last.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by 991.2GT3

Expected price ~ 80L. Not really much of a difference from a consumers POV considering the pre-facelift was retailing at 75L ex showroom. Even for the GLE53 coupe (essentially a dressed-up 43) they bumped up the priced by a good ~25L vs the 43 coupe that was on sale till 2019.

I believe such outrageous pricing of launches (Q2, 2 series, GLE53 etc) by the German trio is because they've factored in the big discounts that anyone shopping in this segment expects. After all, Indians LOVE to get a good deal!

The 53 series is not a dressed up 43,it's an all new engine with a completely different drive train technology. The 53 is an I6 layout with a 48v system, the 43 is a V6.

[GTO]

Got to hand it to Mercedes . They sure do a lot of "firsts" in the luxury segment. Another example was the 1st luxury EV that was recently launched, the EQC, while the LWB E-Class was a master stroke. Clearly a brand working the hardest among the luxury marques & there is a reason they're the no.1 in India.

Originally Posted by GrandTourer

Hopefully they don't start sourcing OEM parts locally too. VW did that and we all know how long the brakes and suspension for the Polo last.

This will be more of a CKD initiative rather than locally sourcing much. Rather than "made in India", I would rephrase the press release to "partially assembled in India". Still a big deal for low volume AMGs.

I hope to see even better prices for the AMGs. Mercedes says the below, but we have seen a GLC 43 for 75 lakhs:

- The imported CBU variant of AMG GLC 43 would have cost around INR 1 crore

- The estimated price of the CKD variant would be around 80 lakhs

[ajmat]

The light AMG's were already sold in CKD form in Thailand so it was no big deal to replicate this in India. The GLE/GLC coupe popularity has been growing, so am not surprised!

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by GTO

Got to hand it to Mercedes . They sure do a lot of "firsts" in the luxury segment. Another example was the 1st luxury EV that was recently launched, the EQC, while the LWB E-Class was a master stroke. Clearly a brand working the hardest among the luxury marques & there is a reason they're the no.1 in India.

Not to forget the other historic firsts:

1) First to assemble a luxury limo in India (S-class).

2) First to assemble a luxury SUV locally with the ML-class (I believe)

2) First to assemble an ultra-luxury car locally (the pre-facelift Mercedes-Maybach S500), though I believe the Maybach isn't assembled in India anymore.

3) Most importantly, first to assemble and officially sell any luxury car in India back in the 90s.

Keep in mind, while Mercedes is assembling AMGs (even if mild), Audi is importing Q2s! While BMW, JLR and Volvo have their space, Audi and Lexus have completely lost it!

[Akshay1234]

This is a great move, and should certainly bring down the prices somewhat. I hope they start locally assembling more models (though they may be only 43s/53s) and make them more accessible at better prices. People will also save on individual road tax as now it will be half the amount as a CBU.

[veedub89]

Great stuff from Mercedes India.

Not too excited about the GLC 43 but very excited to find out what other AMG models will be assembled here.
Hormazd from Autocar seems to believe that the A35 could be next.

Source - https://twitter.com/hormazdsorabjee/...78489083731968

Now that's something to look forward to! Merc India will further solidify its position at the top by catering to the "lower" end of the performance vehicle segment. Good times ahead.

[TusharK]

Earlier this week, Mercedes-Benz announced its plan to locally assemble its high performance AMG models. The AMG GLC 43 Coupe will be the first AMG model to be built in India. It will be launched on November 3, 2020.



The AMG GLC 43 Coupe is powered by a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V6 petrol engine that produces 362 BHP and 520 Nm. The car comes with a 9-speed automatic transmission and has all-wheel drive.



Compared to the regular GLC Coupe, the AMG version gets a sportier body kit with the Panamericana grille, larger diameter wheels and quad-exhausts.



The locally assembled AMG GLC 43 Coupe is estimated to be priced around Rs. 80 lakh (ex-showroom).

[Venkatesh]

Virtual launch of Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 Coupe, first Made in India AMG on Nov 3, 2020



https://www.carandbike.com/news/made...ounced-2314066

[Sivacar]

Looks like a smart move by Mercedes Benz, but the only catch is I heard that Mercedes has replaced their V6 (43 Series) with the Inline 6 (53 Series) globally.

Aren't we getting an engine which is globally discontinued ?

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by GTO

Got to hand it to Mercedes . They sure do a lot of "firsts" in the luxury segment. Another example was the 1st luxury EV that was recently launched, the EQC, while the LWB E-Class was a master stroke. Clearly a brand working the hardest among the luxury marques & there is a reason they're the no.1 in India.

MBIL really does seem a lot more committed to not only understanding the Indian market and it's evolving consumer needs but also delivering value to the consumers by taking out of the box initiatives.
BMW India on the other hand is yet conservatives in their approach and Audi is the least committed. Their strategy and market reality are in two diff hemispheres.

But where MBIL often gets it wrong is pricing. The point of going CKD is to bring the price significantly down, not keep it above the older gen pricing that was CBU!
Even the S-class CKD has never been competitively priced, its almost as much as what a CBU would be. The greedy management at MBIL does not pass on the benefits to the consumers fully.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Sivacar

Looks like a smart move by Mercedes Benz, but the only catch is I heard that Mercedes has replaced their V6 (43 Series) with the Inline 6 (53 Series) globally.

Aren't we getting an engine which is globally discontinued ?

I don't think the current C is set up to accept an inline 6.