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– Ramesh Sharma

Powertrains: Dr Joachim Schmidt, President & CEO, Daimler, Central/ Eastern Europe, Africa & Asia, at the launch of Mercedes-Benz new C-Class at 9th Auto Expo in the Capital on Wednesday.

S. Muralidhar

New Delhi, Jan. 9 Luxury car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler India used the 9th Auto Expo as a launch platform for introducing the latest C-Class sedan in the Indian luxury car market. The new C-Class sedan, which was introduced in Europe early last year, makes its India debut after extensive testing and development work targeted at making India-specific changes.

The new C-Class sedan will be pitted squarely at competing cars like the BMW 3-Series. DaimlerChrysler India (DCIL) has priced the new C-Class at Rs 27 lakh for the petrol C200 Kompressor variant and at Rs 30 lakh for the diesel-engined C220 CDI variant.

With their power outputs being re-rated for improved performance, the two powertrains have been carried forward from the previous version of the C-Class sedan.

The car will be manufactured and assembled at the company’s Pune plant and will feature an entirely new design and layout inside out. The new C-Class will be about 7 centimetres longer and about 4 cms wider than its predecessor. With the wheelbase also increasing by about 4 cms, the new C-Class also gets generously sized interiors.

The new C-Class, DCIL’s entry-sedan in the Indian market, gets new premium features like Mercedes Benz’s own, newly developed Agility Control package with situation-responsive shock absorber control, the Pre-Safe preventive occupant protection system and Adaptive Brakes.

Speaking at the launch conference here, Mr Wilfried G. Aulbur, Managing Director and CEO of DCIL, said that the company set a new sales record during 2007 by selling 2,491 cars, with the C-Class and E-Class contributing sales of 779 units and 1,137 units respectively. Sales of completely built units (CBUs) were 118 cars during the same period.

Mr Aulbur also mentioned that the company has strengthened its distribution and after-sales network and is currently represented in 28 cities around the country. DCIL has also launched the new CLK-Class, a sporty and luxurious cabriolet that joins the company’s existing portfolio of imports.

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