Hyderabad: Make in India could be the new mantra for the global auto giants as they are increasingly focussing on the localising their products. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Mercedes-AMG performance centre in Hyderabad, the company’s managing director and CEO, Eberhard Kern said, “We have achieved 60 per cent localisation in our production units in India.”Its arch rival, BMW had on May 7 announced that the localisation level in the cars that it makes in India has reached up to 50 per cent.
The move is expected to be in line with the PM Narendra Modi’s call for making India a manufacturing hub. Also, the companies are resorting to increasing customisation of their cars according to the customer needs. In line with this, Mercedes-Benz has opened its fourth AMG performance centre in Hyderabad and will open another one in Pune on Friday.
These centres, which focus on the German luxury car maker;s SUV brand AMG, allow the customers to choose the colour and texture of the upholstery of their car among the the other customisations allowed.
“Out of the 22 models launched by Mercedes Benz in India till now, seven of them them will be available in the exclusive AMG segment, which is evident of this growing trend of customisation,” Mr Kern said.
