Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on August 24, 2016.

 

PEKAN: Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which sees a pickup in interest in the sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment, has launched its locally-assembled premium SUV, the GLC 250 4MATIC.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia vice-president (sales and marketing for passenger cars) Mark Raine said the model has received overwhelming response from the public and has exceeded the completly built-up (CBU) units’ sales of 541 units, though he declined to specify the order quantum thus far.

“We see demand in the SUV segment increasing,” he said at a media conference in conjunction with the launch of the locally-assembled GLC 250 4MATIC yesterday.

Raine, who is hoping to see the company further grow its market share in this segment with the introduction of locally-assembled SUVs, expects to deliver the first locally-assembled GLC unit to its customer this month.

In January this year, the premium German carmaker unveiled its luxury SUV range — GLC, GLE and GLE Coupe — in the CBU form, and achieved a total sales of 700 units since then. The locally-assembled GLC 250 4MATIC is tentatively priced at RM325,888 (on-the-road, without insurance). In comparison, the CBU unit’s selling price starts from RM328,888.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, a joint venture between Daimler AG and Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd, didn’t rule out the possibility of rolling out more locally-assembled units at its Pekan plant, which sits on a 339,000 sq m tract.

Aside from GLCs, the plant also assembles the C-Class, E-Class and S-Class models. 

According to Mercedes-Benz Malaysia president and chief executive officer Claus Weidner, the Pekan plant has three production lines and each line can produce up to 400 cars per month.

Weidner said the company invested a total of RM280 million in the plant to date. Annual vehicle production, meanwhile, more than tripled to 7,710 units from 2,000 units in 2005. In the first half of 2016, the carmaker sold 6,017 cars, up 17% compared to the same period last year.

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