Mercedes Benz launches SL 350, GL 500 in India

With the launch of SL 350 and GL 500, German luxury is offering Indian aficionados added incentive to indulge their taste for premium cars on the Indian circuit. The cars are priced at Rs98.5 lakh and Rs80.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) respectively.

Mercedes-Benz's sports car 'SL 350' is powered by a 3.5 litre V6 engine while 'GL 500' SUV runs on 5.4 litre V6 engine.

"The SL 350 and the GL 500 are two of the most popular offerings in our portfolio. I am confident that both the vehicles will woo auto enthusiasts, critics, customers and media alike," Mercedes-Benz India managing director Peter Honegg said in New Delhi.

He added that the GL 500 one of the most powerful SUV's in the world would ideally suit the tastes of the growing number of premium car aficionados in India.

Meanwhile, the luxury car maker's, M-Class SUV is said to be the latest in the crop of completely built unit (CBU) cars coming into India via the CKD route, which is expected to boost sales by selling at a lower price tag.

Currently, cars brought into India through the CBU route attract 60 per cent duty while assembly of the cars in India by bringing it through the CKD route attracts only 10-30 per cent duty.The CKD assembly route, allows car makers to price their cars more competitively which makes for higher sales. According to industry experts, with the BMW X3 Crossover to be launched soon and the Audi Q5 2.0 TDI getting cheaper due to the smaller engine, Mercedes Benz will have to fight back for its share of the market.

And that is exactly what Mercedes will be doing, by bringing the M-Class SUV into India through the CKD route say analysts. The car will be assembled it at its Chakan plant off Pune and will be in the market by the end of this year. With this the price of the Mercedes Benz M-Class is expected to drop by at least a good 20-30 per cent from current levels, which is of around Rs62 lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi.

Analysts say prices would drop by at least Rs15 lakh to make the Mercedes Benz- M-Class more competitive which would increase sales many fold.  Further, since the company also has plans to assemble the engine, the CKD duty it would have to pay only 10 per cent CKD duty thus making for a steeper price drop for the M-Class SUV.