Mercedes set to lead India’s luxury EV market as Tesla stays out

NEW DELHI: German carmaker Mercedes-Benz plans to take pole position in India’s luxury electric vehicle market, its country head told Reuters, helping cement its title as the top-selling luxury car brand and keep ahead of rival Tesla.

In India, Mercedes-Benz will launch three new electric cars this year, be the first company to assemble a luxury EV, and will set up a fast-charging network nationwide, Martin Schwenk said in an interview. The company might also manufacture batteries domestically in the future, he said.

“Now, we are really starting our aggressive offensive into the EV market. In the next five years, 25% of our sales (in India) will be electric,” Schwenk said. “Our ambition is to lead the market in the electric side as well.”

Mercedes’ inroads come as EV rival Tesla recently put on hold plans to enter India due to high import taxes on EVs.

Mercedes will begin its push in India with an imported electric model of its AMG EQS 53 4MATIC performance car that it launched on Wednesday. This will be followed by a locally assembled, electric version of its flagship S-Class sedan, the EQS, and an imported, electric people carrier later this year.

The AMG EQS will have a driving range of 580 kilometres (360 miles) on a single charge and be priced at around $307,000 (24.5 million rupees).

India is largely a small- and low-cost car market, in which luxury models make up 1% of total annual sales of about 3 million. The luxury EV market is even smaller and largely untested.

Mercedes, which already sells its imported EQC sport-utility vehicle (SUV) in India, will be the first to assemble a luxury EV in the country, allowing it to price the car competitively over rivals because of a lower tax rate of 5% on locally built EVs versus 100% tax on imported models.