Brand new Benz in Indian Cities...

After its successful entry into long-distance inter-city bus segment with its 2-axle and 3-axle coaches, Mercedes-Benz on Friday announced its entry into the city bus segment in India by launching the City Bus. Mercedes-Benz India (MBIL) also inaugurated its City Bus manufacturing facility at Chakan in Pune. The low-entry City Bus is powered by OM 926 diesel engine with 252 hp of power. The base version is priced at Rs.90 lakh, ex-factory Pune.

The company had announced a capital investment programme of Rs.600 crore at its Chakan facility to house its passenger car, commercial vehicle production and paint shop. The passenger car line has a capacity of 10,000 units per annum while the commercial vehicle line can make 1,200 trucks / buses per annum. The paint shop would be completed this year.

Mercedes has tied up with its global body-building partner MCV to jointly build the City Buses. MCV will build the bus bodies at the new facility, set up next to MBIL's Chakan plant. The bus body building plant has an annual capacity of 900 units.

Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, said, “Our entry into city buses will enable more and more people to ‘Travel with the Star'. We will participate in the Indian market growth by expanding our bus business with a superior-quality low-entry city bus for the Indian market.”

Daimler also announced the appointment of Markus Villinger as the head of Buses for India. According to Mr. Villinger, “India is a fascinating market and there is a rising demand for robust, reliable and efficient city bus transportation. Our production line at the Pune plant combined with body-building from our captive partner, MCV, will ensure our uncompromising standards of quality are maintained in India.”