Mumbai, June 11 (IANS): Premium carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Thursday said it has commenced production of new generation car, GLA SUV at its manufacturing facility in Pune.

In a statement, the company said the Pune production facility, where an investment of over Rs. 1000 crore has been made, has an installed capacity of producing 20,000 units annually.

It said the GLA remains one of its highly successful models in India.

"Buoyed by this rising demand for the GLA, we took the decision to commence its local production and cater to even more customers wanting to own this stylish vehicle. The GLA would be the first of the New Generation Cars to be rolling out of our plant," the company's managing director and CEO, Eberhard Kern said in a statement.

It further said it is coming up with a new assembly plant in Brazil in 2016 to increase its global manufacturing and assembly footprint.

The company presently has plants in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.