COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Daimler-Chrysler not to hike equity in Merc Benz India

Daimler-Chrysler has, for the present, decided not to hike stake in its India venture -- Mercedes Benz India Limited -- beyond the present holding of 86 per cent.

The company is also not in favour of selling off the around ten per cent stake it holds in Telco, said Till Becker de Freitas, managing director and CEO of Mercedes Benz India.

''There is no move towards altering our equity holding in either MBIL or in Telco. We are strategic partners and have been taking some key inputs from Telco in our venture and vice-versa. Telco is a good partner and we intend to keep them with us,'' he added.

Regarding MBIL, de Freitas said, ''The question of altering the present holding does not arise as neither is Daimler-Chrysler planning to buy-out Telco's stake nor is it infusing fresh capital into the venture... Moreover, it does not really matter to us whether it is 86 per cent owned by us or 100 per cent.''

MBIL was floated as 76-24 venture with the German luxury car-maker Daimler-Benz (now Daimler-Chrysler) controlling the majority stake. However, later the foreign partner hiked its stake with fresh infusion of capital.

The company, he said, has decided to stop exporting made-in-India E-Class cars and instead replace its export basket with components.

''It makes more sense. It simply does not make sense to produce the cars in our range here and export them. These cars are produced for the Indian market and they should remain here.''

MBIL, de Freitas said, is presently concentrating on the E-Class 'Eyes' and the recently launched luxury van. ''We are presently concentrating on the E-Class in India even as other models are being explored. But for the time being, we intend to be here with only the E-Class in the passenger car segment. It does not make sense rolling out a model just for the sake of it.''

It may be recalled that Mercedes Benz is restructuring its Indian operations in line with its overseas production bases in a bid to make MBIL more efficient.

Under the programme, the entire administrative set up was rearranged to suit the market, size and cost situation of the company.

Besides, the company has also shifted its units to a new location and plans to house both the administrative division and production under the same roof. The new plant will also be in Pune. It is a new installation where the whole administration and production has been put together for the right climate and understanding.

UNI

Business news