He denies rumours that the company is planning to launch its A- and B-segment cars in India. “The company will stay focused at the top-end only.” About five years ago Daimler launched A segment Mercedes Rastatt cars facility in Germany. Since then, close to 8,00,000 cars have been sold, mainly in Germany, the UK, Italy and France.

Huber feels that while these cars may sell well in the west, their pricing will place them beyond the range of B segment cars in India, which are priced in the band of Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. “There is a strong connection between the size and price of cars in India and especially so with regard to compact cars. “Hence, it will not make commercial sense for DaimlerChrysler to assemble or import these cars into India.”

The new E-class launched this month is expected to generate 120 odd units by December and around 600 next fiscal. In the US alone, the new E-class is likely to exceed 51,000 numbers in 2003.

DaimlerChrysler has not shown any growth in sales figures over the last year in India, and stays at the less-than 1,300-plus mark recorded in 2001. In 2003, Mercedes expects to grow by 10-12 per cent riding on the wave of its C, E and S class cars, besides CBU (completely built unit) imports of M-class, SL-500, S-500 and some sporty variants of the C-class like the SLK.

The new E Class Mercedes is expected to drive the company’s growth in the coming year. DaimlerChrysler India expects to sell 650-700 units of Mercedes C Class in 2002 and more than 80 vehicles in the S Class. Moreover, the company plans to import close to 100 units of two-seater hardtop convertible SL 500, according to senior company officials.

The company may launch the Maybach by the middle of next year, says Huber, but he declines to detail the expected sales of the saloon car, which would sell at around Rs 2 crore. The company sold around 7,41,300 Mercedes cars between January and August 2002.

While the company does not export any cars assembled at its Pune facility to markets in the Asia region, heavy forging and software exports to its global sourcing system have risen by over 20 per cent this year. The localisation level in the cars assembled here ranges from 25 to 50 per cent depending on the model, Huber adds.

DaimlerChrysler began operations in the country as Mercedes-Benz India Ltd in 1994 in a joint venture with the Tata group company Telco. It broke off with Telco in November 2001 and changed its name to DaimlerChrysler India Pvt Ltd to align itself with DaimlerChrysler’s worldwide corporate philosophy.

Company officials say although the Indian operations contribute very little to the total turnover of the company’s Asian and global operations this is set to change in the near future. With a number of ambitious plans on the anvil the company is targeting a 25-per cent turnover from the Asian region by 2010 and the Indian operations will contribute substantially to this goal.

After five years of straight losses, DaimlerChrysler saw its first profits of Rs 20 crore in 2000, which more than doubled in 2001 to Rs 41 crore, while its total turnover stood at an impressive Rs. 260 crore. The company is hoping to post about the same turnover and profit this year as well.