Mercedes-Benz opens largest auto workshop in Mumbai

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz inaugurated the largest auto workshop in India, in Mumbai's north-western suburb of Andheri on Monday.
 
The Rs52-crore workshop, spread across 100,000 sq ft, was opened by Auto Hangar, its dealer in Mumbai. The workshop has 54 dedicated bays capable of servicing 60 cars daily and employs 160 persons.
 
''World-class servicing standards will be the key differentiator and Mercedes-Benz will continue to create new benchmarks and take a lead,'' said Peter Honegg, managing director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India. ''We have been focusing on strategically expanding our network in India and this new world-class workshop is yet another step to move closer to the customers.''
 
According to Honegg, service is the backbone of the luxury car business. ''If your customer is not satisfied with the service, he will not come back to you,'' he pointed out. ''We are leading in service, not only number-wise but also quality-wise.''
 
But the company, which has been facing stiff competition from two other German luxury carmakers – BMW and Audi – has been witnessing declining sales in India. During the April-July quarter, sales fell by almost 24 per cent to 1,633 units (as against 2,141 units sold in the same period last year).
 
Honegg admits that the rupee depreciation has hurt it significantly, forcing the company to slash expenditure and absorbing the cost escalation. ''The rupee has had a terrible impact on us,'' he said. He said the company was currently not passing on the rupee depreciation to its customers as most of its exposure was hedged.
 
However, if the Indian currency fell to Rs75 (to the Euro), Mercedes-Benz would have no option other than passing it on to customers.
 
 The German automaker has an assembling unit in Chakan near Pune, where it churns out 10,000 vehicles a year. The company assembles the C, E, M and S class vehicles from completely knocked down kits that are imported to Pune.

Over the next two years, it plans to produce a small SUV (to take on BMW's X1 and Audi's Q3, both of which are extremely popular), an A-class car and its GLK SUV.
 
The C-class cars are the most popular in India, accounting for 30 per cent of its production. The car, which sells at around Rs31 lakh, is the cheapest Mercedes in India.