Mercedes-Benz GLA and CLA might be produced locally

The much awaited crossover from Mercedes-Benz - GLA and its sedan sibling - CLA, are expected to be produced locally at the company's Chakan plant, near Pune. Both, the GLA and CLA are based on the Modular Front Architecture (MFA) platform, shared with the A-class. The cars are expected to share the 2.0 litre turbo petrol and 2.2 litre turbo diesel motors albeit in different states of tune; also sharing of parts too would be to a higher degree.

Interestingly, the A-class and B-class, which are the premium hatchback offerings by Mercedes-Benz are offered in India as Completely Built Units. The company however, plans to locally produce these two upcoming offerings to price them competitively. The GLA will take on rivals such as Audi Q3, BMW X1 and the Mini Countryman, while the CLA will be pitted against the recently launched Audi A3.

The next generation C-class too will be locally produced at the Chakan plant. The current capacity of this plant is 10,000 units which is expected to be fully utilised with the production of these models.

Source: Autocar Professional