Gadkari says Mercedes-Benz wants to export 'made in India' cars

NEW DELHI: Mercedes-Benz has indicated to govt that it wants to export 'Made in India' cars to markets across the world for which it is looking to expand production at its factory outside Pune, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.

Gadkari said the chairman of Mercedes had told him that India's production quality is strong and this has prompted the company to look at expanding manufacturing in the country to meet requirements of global markets. "The chairman of Mercedes was telling me (that) they are going to look at increasing the productivity of Mercedes in India... And they want to export Mercedes from here to (markets) all over the world," Gadkari told TOI, while speaking at Auto Retail Conclave organised by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada).

Mercedes assembles cars and SUVs at its factory outside Pune and the facility has a capacity of assembling around 20,000 units annually. The company has invested around Rs 3,000 crore in India over the last three decades, but all the production is used to meet the demand in India.

The company on Tuesday said in Germany that it wants to keep investing in India, which is a "priority" market for it globally. Speaking to visiting Indian reporters in Munich, member of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG Mathias Geisen said the company will continue investing in the priority market India, without putting on hold any of its plans, including to bolster local production. This is when India and EU are in the middle of advanced negotiations for a free trade agreement, which may result in easier access for European cars to India at subsidised import duty rates. "We haven't put any plans on hold compared to what we have originally," Geisen said.

Gadkari said some of the top automotive companies of the world are manufacturing in India, not just to cater to the local demand but also for exports.