Benz unveils costliest car

SEPT 14: "The Mercedes-Benz among the Mercedes-Benzes" -- the S-Class was unveiled on Thursday by Mercedes-Benz India Ltd (MBIL)...

SEPT 14: "The Mercedes-Benz among the Mercedes-Benzes" — the S-Class was unveiled on Thursday by Mercedes-Benz India Ltd (MBIL). The S-320L comes with an ex-showroom price tag of Rs 59 lakh in Delhi and Rs 56 lakh in Mumbai. Add another Rs three lakh to put the S-Class on the road. The first 84 cars rolled out of MBIL’s Pune plant have already been sold out. The target is to put around 100 S-Class cars on the Indian roads this year. The S-Class comes to India within two year of its launch in the world market by DaimlerChrysler.

With the launch of the super luxury S-Class and the expanding luxury car segment, MBIL is targeting a sale of 1,200 cars in the current year and a 10 per cent to 15 per cent growth next year, MBIL managing director and chief executive officer Jurgen Ziegler said. MBIL is also considering forays into the other segments. "We would be talking about the entire gamut of passenger car segment and not just a luxury car," Mr Ziegler said. The recent tie up with Hyundai and Mitsubishi would change the entire business focus of DCAG in India, Ziegler said.

DCAG is working with Hyundai and Mitusbishi to launch a small car specially for the Asian market and this is likely to hit the roads in 2002.

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These alliances on a global level confirms DaimlerChrysler’s increased attention towards Asia and DCAG is targeting 25 per cent of the total turnover from Asia. DCAG’s total turnover at present is around $150 billion. "MBIL intends to play a role in DCAGs strategic forays in the region," he said. "DaimlerChrysler AG was aware of the future potential of the Indian automobile market and also tremendous economic power the country can generate," Mr Ziegler added. MBIL estimates the potential for the super luxury segment in India to be around 500 units.

Around 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the supply chain of the S-Class car has been sourced from India. The S-320L is Euro-II compliant. The S-Class comes with more than 30 technical innovations that gave rise to 340 patent applications from including the intelligent assistance systems.

The S-Class sports a sporty look with elongated coupe-like silhouette. The five-speed automatic transmission has been further developed with a one-touch gearshift system. The electronic control unit of the transmission monitors these manual gear selection and executes them depending on the engine speed. It has a six-cylinder V-engines and achieves a top speed of 240 km/hour. It accelerates 0 to 100 in 8.2 seconds. For catalytic converters ensures low emissions.

The RJD’s key face and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Tejashwi Yadav, party supremo Lalu Yadav’s son, will again contest from his stronghold Raghopur.

Amid Mahagathbandhan crisis, RJD unveils list of 143, drops 36 MLAs, focuses on ‘M-Y’

Political Pulse5 hr ago

The RJD, lead player of the Mahagathbandhan, released its full list of 143 candidates for the November Bihar Assembly elections. Its key face Tejashwi Yadav will contest from Raghopur, and 41 sitting MLAs have been renominated. The party has dropped 36 sitting MLAs and fielded young leaders, signaling a bid to consolidate its core Muslim-Yadav vote base. The Congress has fielded 60 candidates.

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