Saar: It wants to play a substantial part in electrifying mobility in India.
Mercedes-Benz has a good hold in India. Not only is it the oldest premium carmaker in the country but also a leader in its range of products. But it doesn’t want to limit its scope by just producing conventionally powered vehicles. Instead, its Indian operations want to produce electric vehicles (EVs) at its production facility at Chakan near Pune, Maharashtra. India, like several other countries, is gunning towards electrifying its mobility in all sectors and Mercedes-Benz India wants to play a substantial part in it.
Talking to a publication, Michael Jopp, vice president, sales and marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, reportedly said:
“As the Indian market moves towards electrics, we will be investigating local manufacturing here. As part of our long-term perspective (on India), we want to manufacture here. When it happens, we would certainly manufacture them at our plant in Chakan, alongside the combustion engine vehicles.”
This news surfaced at the launch event of the Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupe 4MATIC+. However, Jopp mentioned that there are several challenges that need to be worked upon before the company can think about manufacturing EVs locally. The primary area that needs addressing before anything else is a robust ecosystem to support the existence of EVs. Essentially – a well laid out charging infrastructure.
Jopp also went on to say that the government should consider lowering taxes for clean cars. That will help in achieving sufficient volumes to encourage companies to invest in the local production of electrified vehicles. If this were to happen, Mercedes-Benz India will be able to launch EVs at lower prices but at a much sooner date.
Mercedes’ all-electric lineup will come from its sub-brand EQ. The first model is expected to launch sometime next year. That will be followed by a range of pure-electric vehicles to cater to all customer segments. The company recently announced that it will build a small EQ model in France. For that, Mercedes-Benz will be investing nearly 500 million euros to upgrade its facility in Hambach.
Source: ET Auto
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