Mercedes-Benz India Evaluating Electric Cars For India

Mercedes-Benz is the largest luxury car automaker in the country by a considerable margin. The automaker has the widest range of cars from the A-Class hatchback to luxury cars like the Mercedes-Maybach S650, to iconic SUVs like the recently launched Mercedes-AMG G63 and of course, supercars like the completely bonkers Mercedes-AMG GTR. The automaker also has invested internationally into launching a range of electric cars with its new sub brand - EQ. Speaking on the side lines of a recent launch in Delhi, Mercedes-Benz India has now confirmed that it is considering electric cars, especially the newly launched Mercedes-Benz EQ C all-electric SUV for India in the near future.

The EQC is Mercedes-Benz's first all-electric production car

Speaking to NDTV carandbike, Michael Jopp, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India said, "We are evaluating what are the opportunities in terms of what we can bring to the market but then again, talking about electric, as you are aware, we have globally launched the EQC in Stockholm and that could be an opportunity for India. But looking at the overall electric scenario right now, there is some support, but for CBUs there is also a 100 per cent import duty and in spite of a low GST the ultimate pricing of the car would still be quite significant. Therefore at this point in time we still see only a very limited demand for electric vehicles."

The cabin of the Mercedes-Benz EQC is a familiar one as we've seen it on the E-Class and S-Class

Bringing the Mercedes-Benz EQ C to India could be a big boost to Mercedes-Benz India - especially if the automaker could set up some sort of charging infrastructure at the owner's house/office space and also look into public charging infrastructure for EQ C owners at showrooms and service centres. Bringing in an all-electric SUV could also be a popular move especially since India is a growing SUV market in all segments. The government also recently announced that it would allow automakers to freely import 2,500 units a year without the need for local homologation. This could also mean that Mercedes-Benz India could finally consider bringing the Smart brand to India exclusively offering the electric vehicles range.