Business
‘Tesla cars welcome at our EV charging stations in India’: Mercedes-Benz India CEO – Times of India
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NEW DELHI: As Tesla prepares to enter India, Mercedes-Benz — one of its global rivals and India’s top luxury seller — has said the market for electrics will grow with new players, adding that its EV charging stations will be open to cars of the American giant.
“Our EV charging bays will be open for Tesla cars, just like they are for an EV of any other brand,” Santosh Iyer, MD & CEO of Mercedes in India told TOI as he spoke about the entry of new brands in the country.The company sells electrics across its dealerships, and has a total of 116 charging stations spread across 36 locations.
Mercedes, which announced its highest numbers in a quarter in the Jan-Mar’24 period at 5,142 units (15% growth), will be beefing up its green line-up by driving in three greens this year, getting aggressive at a time when Tesla starts imports into India.
Iyer said the company has no reasons to be threatened by Tesla, considering that the price points that the Elon Musk-run company is reportedly targeting are much lower to their car prices. Also, he said that any new player will end up expanding the electric market, rather than competing with other brands. “New entrants will only expand volumes in different segments and grow the market.”
EVs had a 6% share (350 cars) in the Q1 sales of Mercedes India, and Iyer said this is expected to go up to as much as 25% “and even more” by the year 2030. “Our EV portfolio clocked a robust 130% y-o-y growth in Q1 with a strong response to the EQE SUV, in addition to the EQB SUV and the top-end EQS luxury sedan. We plan to launch three new electrics and double our green portfolio by the close of this year.”
Asked whether the company will apply for benefits under the new EV policy that promises lower import duty to companies that commit $500 million investments in greens, he said it will wait to get more details on the proposal.
Mercedes, which has a factory outside Pune, has currently invested Rs 3,000 crore in India and has a peak production capacity of 20,000 cars annually.
Tesla, on the other hand, is chalking out an aggressive investment plan for India which may see the company pump in about $2-3 billion in the country for a 5-lakh annual capacity plant, which will also be used for exports. Musk wants to first import cars, while targeting to start manufacturing over the next two years.
Iyer, however, said that Mercedes will continue to focus on its petrol-diesel portfolio even as EVs become mainstream. “We will have more car lines across ICE and electrics.”
“Our EV charging bays will be open for Tesla cars, just like they are for an EV of any other brand,” Santosh Iyer, MD & CEO of Mercedes in India told TOI as he spoke about the entry of new brands in the country.The company sells electrics across its dealerships, and has a total of 116 charging stations spread across 36 locations.
Mercedes, which announced its highest numbers in a quarter in the Jan-Mar’24 period at 5,142 units (15% growth), will be beefing up its green line-up by driving in three greens this year, getting aggressive at a time when Tesla starts imports into India.
Iyer said the company has no reasons to be threatened by Tesla, considering that the price points that the Elon Musk-run company is reportedly targeting are much lower to their car prices. Also, he said that any new player will end up expanding the electric market, rather than competing with other brands. “New entrants will only expand volumes in different segments and grow the market.”
EVs had a 6% share (350 cars) in the Q1 sales of Mercedes India, and Iyer said this is expected to go up to as much as 25% “and even more” by the year 2030. “Our EV portfolio clocked a robust 130% y-o-y growth in Q1 with a strong response to the EQE SUV, in addition to the EQB SUV and the top-end EQS luxury sedan. We plan to launch three new electrics and double our green portfolio by the close of this year.”
Asked whether the company will apply for benefits under the new EV policy that promises lower import duty to companies that commit $500 million investments in greens, he said it will wait to get more details on the proposal.
Mercedes, which has a factory outside Pune, has currently invested Rs 3,000 crore in India and has a peak production capacity of 20,000 cars annually.
Tesla, on the other hand, is chalking out an aggressive investment plan for India which may see the company pump in about $2-3 billion in the country for a 5-lakh annual capacity plant, which will also be used for exports. Musk wants to first import cars, while targeting to start manufacturing over the next two years.
Iyer, however, said that Mercedes will continue to focus on its petrol-diesel portfolio even as EVs become mainstream. “We will have more car lines across ICE and electrics.”
