Cutting edge technology, world class luxury and comfort, that’s luxury cars for you, courtesy Germany. German auto giants, like Audi, BMW and Mercedes, have always had the upper hand when it came to the luxury car needs of the Indian. And as British marquees Jaguars and Land Rover arrive to India, German carmakers are bracing themselves for the fierce competition. After setting up their assembly operations in the country a number of them are now planning to enhance their total output.

Anticipating on the upcoming competition and growing demand, Mercedes has already taken necessary steps to beat the competition heat. Mercedes Benz India (MBIL), which is in its tenth year of running operations, is planning to ramp up production at its Chakan plant by moving into double shift operations to meet the growing demand for its luxury cars. Mercedes believes that the SUV segment is growing faster than the luxury car segment and that it plans to penetrate the segment at a much deeper level.

When the Mercedes spokesperson was contacted, he refused to comment. He said, “Right now, we are assembling variants of the C, E and S-Class here, and has an installed capacity to make 5,000 cars annually with single shift operations. At the moment, we have no plans to increase capacity. But if the market booms, we may think about it”.

Now, let’s talk about another German brand which is a hot favourite among the Indians. Yes, we are talking about BMW. BMW has resolved to reach a target of selling about 4000 units in 2010 and in order to achieve it, BMW is all set to enhance production capacity at its Chennai plant.

BMW India is planning to have a double digit growth in this year but its Chennai plant has a production capability of about 3000 cars a year. With its sales target being more than the production capacity, BMW is looking at investing more at their plant, however, the final figures have not been worked out yet. This brings good news for all the people in who are looking for jobs in Chennai. BMW is launching its SUV X1 next year and to cater to the needs of assembling the SUV X1, it is planning to increase the manpower by about 30 per cent.