The premium and luxury car market in India has come a long way in the last few years in terms of offerings. Today customers have a wide variety of options in the luxury car space that are more affordable, compared to the completely built units (CBU) or imported models that were on sale a few years ago. One of the main reasons for this change is because a lot of these premium and luxury car manufacturers have now set up a strong base in India and are producing (assembling) the cars locally, allowing them to offer at a reasonable price while retaining margins. On the 74th Independence Day, we take a look at some of the top luxury and premium cars that are Made-In-India.
Mercedes-Benz GLS
New-Gen Mercedes-Benz GLS is the latest locally assembled luxury car to go on sale in India.
The 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS is the latest locally assembled luxury model to go on sale in India. It was initially called the GL-Class, came to India back in 2010 as a CBU model and it was in 2013 when Mercedes started with its local assembly at its Chakan plant near pune. The third-generation Mercedes-Benz GLS in India comes in both petrol and diesel versions. The GLS 450 4MATIC, gets a 3.0-litre in-line 6-cylinder engine with EQ Boost technology, which is tuned to make 362 bhp and 500 Nm of torque, with an additional 21 bhp and 250 Nm of torque available via EQ Boost over short periods. The diesel GLS 400 d 4MATIC, gets a 2.9-litre in-line six-cylinder engine that belts out 326 bhp and 700 Nm torque. Both engines are mated to a 9 G-Tronic automatic gearbox.
BMW 5 Series
(BMW 5 Series was launched in India in June last year)
The BMW 5 Series has been one of the top choices in the premium executive sedan space, in India, specially when it comes to driving pleasure. The new-generation model is assembled at the company's manufacturing facility in Chennai. The current-gen BMW 5 Series is based on the new Cluster Architecture a.k.a. CLAR platform, which also underpins the current-gen BMW 7 Series assembled locally as well. The latest-gen model has grown considerably in size, while the wheelbase too gone up at 2970 mm. The automaker has freed up more legroom at the rear and the car certainly feels a lot more spacious inside. More importantly, the new 5 Series is sportier to drive than its older model and that will certainly attract a lot of young buyers to the car. The comes in three engine options - a 187 bhp 2.0-litre diesel, a 261 bhp 3-litre diesel and a 249 bhp 2-litre petrol.
Jaguar XE
(The Jaguar XE is the most affordable sedan from the British luxury carmaker)
The Jaguar XE is the most affordable sedan from the Tata Motors-owned British luxury carmaker and it's assembled at the company manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharashtra. The XE was first launched in India at the 2016 Auto Expo and over the last two years, the carmaker has updated both the petrol and a diesel engine of the car with its new, more efficient Ingenium engines. The styling has been highly appreciated for the bold front fascia inspired by the larger XF and XJ saloons, while the rear gets the extremely beautiful F-Type inspired tail lights. The petrol version of the car is powered by a 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol motor offered in both 197 bhp and 247 bhp, while the diesel model gets a 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel which also comes in two states of tune - 160 bhp and 177 bhp.
Price: Starts at Rs. 39.73 lakh (ex-showroom, India)
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
(The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the flagship model in the Stuttgart-based carmaker's line up)
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class defines luxury in any market. It is the flagship model in the Stuttgart-based carmaker's line up and the car is assembled at the Chakan facility in Pune which is the only plant outside of Europe that produces the S-Class. At present we have the S-Class facelift on sale in India which comes with the latest generation of radar-based driving assistance systems and gets the OM 656 engine which is the most powerful passenger car diesel engine designed by Mercedes-Benz India. The 3.0-litre inline-six cylinder motor belts out 282 bhp and develops 600 Nm of peak torque. The S 450 petrol as well and thanks to twin turbocharging and intercooling, puts out 362 bhp and offers 500 Nm of peak torque. That said, the current-gen model will soon be replaced by the upcoming 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class next year and it is again expected to up the ante, setting new benchmarks.
Volvo XC90
(Volvo rolled out its locally assembled XC90 flagship SUV in India last year in October 2017)
Volvo rolled out its locally assembled XC90 flagship SUV in India in October 2017. The assembly operations are located near Bengaluru and focus on models based on Volvo's SPA modular vehicle architecture. The XC90 sports the face of Volvo's new design direction, with an impressive grille that houses the iron mark, and the striking all-LED headlights with Thor's Hammer LED daytime running lights. Inside the XC90 gets a fresh and roomy cabin. Volvo has done away with all the buttons and now the central console has only 8 of them. The home screen is horizontally divided into four zones: Navigation, Music, Phone and Sound Experience. Each of these tabs can be expanded by simply touching it. Under the hood, the XC90 comes powered by the 2.0-litre, 4 Cylinder diesel engine that makes 235 bhp and a whopping 480 Nm torque and is mated to an 8-Speed automatic gearbox, and comes with AWD.
