German luxury car maker, Mercedes-Benz, launched a special edition of the C-Class last week. The car, based on the C 200 Kompressor and C 220 CDI variants, is available in both both petrol and diesel versions. It is priced between Rs 28.46 lakh and Rs 31.30 lakh. Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO, Wilfried Aulbur, said that the company would be producing only 60 units of the special edition car to maintain exclusivity. Aulbur also said that Mercedes-Benz would increase the strength of its R&D staff in India to 400-500 by the end of 2010. The company’s R&D centre in Bangalore is its largest outside Germany, he added.
Mercedes will launch multiple variants of it E-Class sedan this year to strengthen its position in the luxury car market. Over the past year, the company has lost a significant chunk of its market share to BMW and Audi. It is now making greater efforts to take on the competition, and will invest Rs 150 crore to expand its network in India. The luxury car market in India is expected to reach 8,000 units by the end of this year. Mercedes currently has a market share of 36-38 per cent in the luxury segment.
