German luxury carmaker Mercedes Benz has firmed up plans to locally assemble a second electric vehicle in the country enthused by steady demand for these cars. India will be the only market outside of the United States to locally assemble the EQS SUV 580. Completely built-up units (CBU) attract customs duty of up to 110%, compared to 15% levied on vehicles assembled locally from knocked down kits (CKD).
Mercedes Benz India Managing Director Santosh Iyer told ET, “There is currently no other option for emission free mobility than electrification. And we need to aid penetration by introducing electric cars at varied price points to our customers. The EQS SUV 580 will be the second electric vehicle that we assemble locally, which has helped us to price it competitively.” The EQS SUV 580 is priced at Rs 1.41 crore.
With the launch of the EQS SUV 580 the company now has half a dozen EVs for sales in the country. “About 55% of all cars sold in India are now SUVs. So it was only logical for us to introduce an electric SUV. We expect penetration of electric vehicles in our portfolio to increase steadily with these launches”, Iyer informed.
Overall, the company has seen penetration of electric vehicles in its total sales double to 5% in the first half of the ongoing calendar year, over CY2023. EV sales for the company grew by 60% in this period, when total volumes rose 9% to 9,262 units.
