Mercedes 'AMG' car is seen on display during the first day of a two-day-long 'Auto de Glam Expo' on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on January 30, 2021.
(Photo : SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Mercedes-Benz continues to see India as a major market for its electric vehicles. The German car giant is announcing plans to launch the EQS in the subcontinent later this year. The announcement comes 14 months after Mercedes-Benz launched India's first all-electric luxury SUV, the EQC.
Mercedes Benz to assemble EQS locally for Indian market
This decision is even more exciting for Indian fans of Mercedes because the EQS luxury electric sedan will be locally assembled this time around. The EQS, the electric equivalent of the conventional S-Class, made its debut in the global market in April 2021. Mercedes-Benz plans to release the locally-assembled EQS around the fourth quarter of the year 2022.
The EQS has been made available in two variants overseas, which is expected to be the case in India. The said electric vehicle has a claimed range of up to 770 kilometers per the worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure (WLTP) standards.
There has been growing competition for Mercedes-Benz in the luxury all-electric market here in India ever since the German auto giant opened the floodgates with the initial release of the EQC. Other luxury carmakers have followed suit to grab a piece of the pie, with Jaguar launching the iPace and Audi releasing the e-tron and e-tron GT.
Mercedes is looking to regain market dominance with its plans to assemble the EQS locally. It is a clear signal of intent by Mercedes-Benz that India remains a key market for them now and in the future.
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Mercedes looking for further growth in India
Martin Schwenk, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, released a statement about the company's growth in the EV market in the subcontinent.
"Two years ago we launched the brand, then we launched the EQC, then we brought the capability of the network and now we are bringing a car we think can go from import to a domestically produced vehicle because it has the volume assumptions underlined and the product potential."
Schwenk added that Mercedes-Benz is taking it one step at a time and that the company is following a broad strategy in India. That strategy includes launching ten new products this year to boost Mercedes' portfolio in India. Apart from launching the much-awaited EQS, Mercedes is also planning to offer the famous S-Class Maybach to the Indian market, with March 2022 the target date for its launch.
Mercedes remains the largest luxury automaker in India, with sales surging 42.5 percent in 2021 after 11,242 units were sold last year. BMW Group's sales rose 35 percent last year after selling 8,876 units, while Audi managed to sell 3,293 retail units in 2021, more than double its sales the previous year.
The future is bright for Mercedes, with the auto giant already having an order bank of over 3,000 units, its highest ever here in India.
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