The Story of Transportation in Indian City

For many getting housing, buying a flat and for that purpose getting a loan of 20 lakhs from a financial institutions is the ultimate thing and most part of life goes with the EMI (equated monthly instalment) calculation and amortization schedule. You may not know the city that was founded on the village Khadki, which was changed to Fatehnagar. Subsequently it got its present name of Aurangabad from where Aurangzeb ruled. The name meaning ‘built by the throne’ has many historic monuments and is also known as the ‘city of Gates’. The city Aurangabad is in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.

Vehicle manufacturer Daimler entered the Indian market and set up Mercedes Benz India Ltd in 1994. The Company was later renamed DaimlerChrysler India P Ltd after the merger of parent company Daimlet with Chrysler, again it became Mercedes Benz India in 2007. The company is based in Pune. C Class and E class are assembled locally while others are fully imported from Germany. These are luxury cars treated as status symbols and have many variants such as C Class (sedan only); E class (Sedan, Coupe and Cabrio) and CL, CLs GL, M, R and more. Reportedly, it recorded sales of 2402 vehicles in the first six months of 2010.

The new version of E class sedan is reportedly available at around 65 lakhs and the new version E class Cabriolet is the seventh offering within the E class range by the company in Indian market. The earlier versions of E class were priced between 42 lakhs and 50 lakhs. The latest is an attempt aimed at strengthening the stakes in luxury car market. Some market data has it that Mercedez Benz has beaten compatriot BMW in the race to the top spot in luxury car segment – perhaps this has also contributed to the sudden increase.

In the city of Aurangabad, 150 variants of Mercedes were sold on a single day; together they are worth 65 crore. The news item (MSN India) stated that it started as a jest over an early morning jog and ended up creating a record of sorts in the history of automobile giant, as 150 vehicles were handed over to people from different walks of life in a single transaction. Certainly this delivery to the aurangabad residents should weigh amongst the biggest and highest car deal that took place in India. People buying luxury car worth not less than 50 lakhs cannot be of different walks but only one class of society – the rich and famous.  

The MD and CEO Wilfried Aulbur said that this is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Indian automobile industry. These men are primarily entrepreneurs in their 30s and 40s which means that the average age group of luxury car buyers has dropped. What was sold were in Tenorite Grey, Calcite White, Obsidian Black, Iridian Silver and Carneol Red colours, the swanky lot of 17 S-class, 74 E-class, 39 C-class, six GL and 18 M-class vehicles. The State Bank of India had sanctioned over Rs 44 crore for 116 of the customers within a record time of seven days.

One of the buyers was reported to as saying that it started with seven of them joking about buying a Mercedes. Then they approached the company at Chakan plant, after which a car rally was held in Aurangabad. The word of mouth news made the team of 115 by mid April and then it became this group of 150. As a natural fall out, MB setup a special service centre in Walunj near Aurangabad with capacity to handle 100 cars a month.

The S class is a series of largest sedans produced by MB. This classification was officially introduced in 1972 and this class debuted many of the company’s latest innovations, interior features and safety systems which included the first time seat belt pretensioners. Pretensioners preemptively tighten the belt to prevent the occupant from jerking forward in a crash. Mercedes-Benz first introduced pretensioners on the 1981 S class. In the event of a crash, a pretensioner will tighten the belt almost instantaneously. This reduces the motion of the occupant in a violent crash. Like airbags, pretensioners are triggered by sensors in the car's body, and most pretensioners use explosively expanding gas to drive a piston that retracts the belt. The name "S-Class" derives from the German word "Sonderklasse" of which "S-Class" is an abbreviation. Sonderklasse means "special class" (or rather: "In a class of its own"), and in automotive terms thus refers to "a specially outfitted car." Although used colloquially for decades, following its official application in 1972, five generations of officially-named S-Class sedans have been produced.

the e class cabriolet

Mercedes is known for its safety innovations and S class were the first in Europe to incorporate airbags. Its safety features include innovations in active safety (avoidance) passive safety (collision protection) and holistic safety (integration of both); it also ABS braking. In 2005, a new infrared night vision feature was introduced (improves visibility during nighttime conditions). Presafe, a safety feature was introduced in 2002. It provides a safety net approach in preventing accidents. In case of a rollover, the feature unlocks the doors and lower the windows allowing easy exit or easy access to inside. It is touted as one of the safest cars on the UK roads. A special armounred version of S class has the capability to withstand military grade small arms fire and certain explosive devices. This S Guard is widely used at the diplomatic level to protect world leaders and used by Governments to transport leaders and dignitaries.
Most of the Mercedes vehicles are fitted with modern gadgets such as convenience telephone which enable communication without compromise. This device is a compatible mobile phone and a holder connected to the exterior aerial via a fixed interface in the centre console. The functions of the phone can be accessed via the screen – incoming test messages and call lists will also be displayed. The integral Bluetooth interface allows wireless connection with the compatible mobile phone and a call to anybody can be safely made through the controlling unit.
As compared to Aurangabad, Chennai, the capital city of Tamilnadu is a metropolitan city with estimated population of over 8.2 million people. The city largely depends on Metropolitan Transport Corporation that operates around 3000 buses within the city limits. It is claimed that 5.86 million passengers use this facility every day. Their LSS buses are 50 paise costlier than ordinary ones; Express buses are 1.5 times costlier than ordinary; Deluxe is double the LSS fare, M Service has flat rate and there are some Volvo A/C buses where the fare is 2.5 times of deluxe fare with minimum of Rs.10/- In many bus stands where there would be milling crowds, it is a common sight of people skipping LSS bus for saving that 50 paise.


India is a Nation with vast diversities, as they say….


Regards – Sampathkumar S