Mercedes-Benz Mercedes Benz to assemble its EQS electric luxury sedan in India: Report
German auto major Mercedes Benz is planning to launch a unit for local assembly of its EQS electric sedan in India in a move to electrify its portfolio in Asia, media reports said.
Mercedes will be the first global luxury carmaker to assemble electric vehicles (EVs) in India. The company expects to sell the locally-assembled vehicles EQs in the fourth quarter of this year, Martin Schwenk, the head of its India unit said, reported ED.
The company has already been selling the imported models of its EQC electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) since 2020 and preparing an "EV roadmap" for the Indian market, Schwenk said, adding that the plans in this regard are still in the early stages.
"Now we bring a car from an imported to a domestically produced vehicle because it has underlying volume and product potential," he said.
Sales of EVs, especially luxury electric cars, account for only a fraction of the company's total vehicle sales in India, mainly because of low demand and high prices of these vehicles, as well as a lack of a local supply chain, including battery manufacturing.
Schwenk did not speak about the quantum of investment Mercedes would invest in its EV push in India but said that the company has invested 4 billion rupees ($54 million) over the past two years taking the total investment in India to $351 million.
Globally, Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler plans to invest more than 40 billion euros ($47 billion) by 2030 to develop battery EVs as it prepares to take on Tesla, the company said in July, the ET report stated.
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