Mercedes Benz India will not assemble any other EV in India in the next two years apart from the EQS. The company will wait to see how its EV portfolio sells before deciding on further localisation. The locally assembled EQS will roll out from the Chakan facility next month.

“In the short term, we have no plans of locally assembling any other EV than the EQS. But if 25 per cent of our sales are to come from EVs, then eventually we will have to assemble them in India,” said Santosh Iyer, director, sales and marketing, Mercedes Benz India Ltd (MBIL).

Globally, Mercedes has a range of seven EVs starting from the EQA, the EQB, EQC, EQE, EQS, EQT, and EQV, each corresponding to internal combustion engine (ICE) models such as the A-Class, the C-Class, the E-Class, the S-Class and the V-Class.

The Indian subsidiary has brought the EQC and has plans to roll out the EQS and the EQB this year. It is also planning to get the EQE for India. When asked if it would bring the EQA to India, the EV corresponding to the A-Class, Iyer said it has no plans to bring a small EV.

“We are focusing on the top end because we are a true luxury brand and our revenues come from the top end.”

“Localisation takes a planning of 18 months. So we decided on the localization of EQS 18 months back. Six months after we launched EQC we were convinced that there was a market for EVs and we took a decision about the localisation of EQS,” said Iyer.

He said India was at an inflexion point in EV adoption and there will be no problem with demand.”We would not have localised if we were not convinced of selling the EQS.”

Suzuki R&D facility

President of Suzuki Motor Company T. Suzuki on Sunday announced the establishment of a research and development company in India. He was addressing the gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Electric Vehicle (EV) battery-making factory in Gujarat as well as the new manufacturing facility in Haryana.

“We are pleased to announce that we have established a new company, Suzuki R&D Center India. This new company is wholly owned by Suzuki Japan. We will strengthen our ties with Indian academic institutes and start-ups to develop diverse human resources,” said Suzuki. “In the last fiscal, Suzuki Group produced about 28 lakh automobiles all over the world. Out of those, more than 16 lakh units, or about 60 per cent, were produced in India.

Also, India’s exports reached a highest record of about 2.4 lakh units last year. Today, India plays a significant role as a global automobile production hub in Suzuki Group,” said the president. He said production of the Gujarat plant exceeded 20 lakh units cumulatively.