Mercedes-Benz to expand Indian R&D

Daimler AG subsidiary Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to increase the number of engineers at its research and development (R&D) facility in Bangalore, southern India, to up to 1,000 over the next few years. However, the company has not provided a specific time frame for this increase. The company also announced that it, along with its partners, would invest Rs1.5 billion (US$29.23 million) towards expansion of its distribution network in India. The carmaker, which currently has 12 dealerships across India, says the number will increase shortly. (March 10, 2009)