Mercedes-Benz eyes 25% of sales from EVs in 5 years

Mercedes-Benz India expects to garner 25% of its sales from electric cars over the next five years given the rapid adoption rate, according to MD and CEO Martin Schwenk.

“We have a portfolio of 25 cars in India,” Mr. Schwenk said. “Over the next five years, we hope to have at least 25% of our sales number to come from the new segment (EVs) and grow further substantially,” he said in an interview.

Mentioning that they were working on a strategy, he said: “I would assume that we will have additional models in the line up. At this stage, we don’t have a firm decision or firm plan to communicate. Our factory at Pune is flexible and capable of producing electric cars. With the launch of EQS, it should open door for the future investment in India.”

Enthused by the overwhelming response to EQS,the luxury carmaker will be rolling out EQB, a seven-seater SUV soon.

Asserting that the potential for EVs is large in India, he mentioned that EQS 580 4MATIC is the 14th locally- made car by Mercedes-Benz in India and first in the EV segment. It would play an important role in driving the company’s ambitious EV plan.

On Thursday, Mercedes-Benz India introduced the EQS electric vehicle for Chennai consumers at Titanium Motor’s newly refurbished MAR2020 retail outlet.

According to him, Tamil Nadu reported 68% growth in sales volume during first half of CY22, of which top- end vehicles accounted for 74%.

“Tamil Nadu followed the all India in sales pattern. Our target audiences are salaried employees, senior management of tech firms, younger crowd, young entrepreneurs and women customers,” he added.