Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India rolled-out the new Mercedes C-Class GRAND EDITION from its assembly line after Mercedes-Benz India successfully rolled out 50000 in India since the establishment of Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd in 1994
Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said: “Touching the 50,000 cars landmark marks the beginning of a next growth chapter for Mercedes-Benz in India. With our customer centric focus specifically in line of products, network, aftersales and unique brand experiences have played a significant role in our success. The outstanding acceptance of all our products is a testimony to the success of that approach. I would like to thank our customers and congratulate the passionate team at Mercedes-Benz India on this achievement. We are committed to the India story and the market potential and will continue to increase our investments in our facility and infrastructure. The current capacity will be doubled by end of Q1 2014 and we will soon commence local assembly of newer models, making the company ‘future ready’. The C-Class GRAND EDITION embodies Mercedes-Benz’s uncompromising style, design and performance. The C-Class remains one of Mercedes-Benz’ best-sellers in the competitive entry level luxury sedan segment with in more than 19,000 units sold till date. To celebrate the 50,000th Mercedes-Benz roll out from our benchmarking plant, we are delighted to present the ‘The new C-Class GRAND EDITION’ in both petrol and diesel versions for our discerning patrons.”
Mercedes is one of the luxury automobile companies in India, also they have been one of the most committed companies to the Indian luxury car market. 20 years and 850 crores later Mercedes-Benz India is one of the few companies that can boast The production facilities for five of its current selling models the C-Class, the E-Class, the S-Class, ML-Class and GL-Class.
The new C-class grand has a few new touches over the current selling C-class. The so called “GRAND EDITION” will have a dashing AMG body styling with front and rear apron and side sill panels and17-inch 5-twin-spoke light alloy wheels with black AMG hub caps makes the C-Class GRAND EDITION distinctive in its appearance. The “GRAND EDITION” badge on the wings with chromed tailpipe trims and Intelligent Light System with Bi-Xenon headlamps, cornering light function, adaptive high beam assist, LED daytime running lamps & headlamp cleaning system further adds to the exterior appointments. An exclusive finned radiator with integrated Mercedes-Benz Star and tinted-panoramic glass sunroof with one-touch function.
The interiors though are a bit disappointing, with the Grand edition featuring features sun visors with illuminated mirrors, interior mirror auto dimming and door sill panels in the front & rear with the front panels sporting the Mercedes-Benz lettering. These are great interiors , don’t get me wrong but its only that we expected more.
The Telematics in the C-class Grand Edition though are well up to expectations with features such as an 11.4cm multifunctional colour display in the instrument cluster. Navigation with latest maps now features as standard in C-Class GRAND EDITION. There is complete integration of the in-car infotainment system and display with details featuring in instrument cluster display. Navigation allows integrating the destination directly, using the map and navigating to the selected point, whereas the brand logos act as indicators of points of interest such as at fuel filling stations and restaurants. There is also provision of fast zoom function with scale indicators and a different view for maps. Over 7.9 million key points of interest are featured including fuel filling stations, Mercedes-Benz dealership outlets, museums, restaurants and hospitals.
The Engine options are tweaked but again just a bit, with rated output of 125/170 @ 3000-4200 rpm and a rated torque of 400 Nm @ 1400-2800 rpm from the 4 cylinder 2143 cc diesel engine and output of 137/186 @ 5600 rpm and a rated torque of 285 @ 2400-4000 rpm from the petrol variant. Although the performance figures are not great, Mercedes India is very adamant in saying these figures combined with the new race dynamics give this C-class unmatched driving pleasure . Priced at: Rs. 39.16 lakhs for the Diesel and Rs. 36.81 lakhs for the Petrol variant , this car makes just one thing come to my head. I wonder if Mercedes will consider putting up tech and gizmos of the GRAND EDITION on the options list of the lower more practical variants of the C-class
Some of these features I really wish could be made available on the options list for the C –class, Mercedes are you listening??
