Mercedes looks to charge up India play, posts 60% rise in battery EV sales

The company launched the EQA 250+ on Monday, priced at Rs 66 lakh, which comes with a range of 497-560 km per charge

German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz India is betting on its battery electric vehicle (BEV) range now as it posts 60 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in BEV sales, resulting in a penetration of 5 per cent in overall sales in the first half of the calendar year (H1CY24), doubling from 2.5 per cent last year.

The company launched the EQA 250+ on Monday priced at Rs 66 lakh, which comes with a range of 497-560 km for a single charge. At the same time, it also launched a facelift version of the EQB 350 (5-seater version) priced at Rs 77.5 lakh. The company also started bookings for the upcoming electrified G-Wagon from Monday, which is expected to be launched in the second half of the year. In the second half, Mercedes Benz plans to launch two new BEVs — the G Wagon electric and the EQS SUV Maybach — taking its total EV portfolio in India to six models. It currently has three models — EQB, EQE SUV & EQS sedan — apart from the launch today.

What is interesting is that in order to push the EV offtake amongst consumers, the company is offering an assured 67 per cent residual value for its cars at the end of four years.

Speaking to Business Standard, Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO, Mercedes Benz India, said: “We are confident of our product and technology, and, therefore, we are offering a similar residual value like our internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.” He added that the BEV game is not a sprint but a marathon. The government too has a significant role to play in this in terms of central and state taxations in the form of GST and road taxes. Around 60-70 per cent cities in India do not have road tax for BEVs.

Mercedes is trying to position the EQA 250+ as a value proposition for its consumers — it will come at equated monthly instalments (EMIs) of Rs 68,000 for four years with a 20 per cent down-payment and the 67 per cent assured buyback at the end of four years. Compared to its ICE counterpart, the total annual savings is estimated to be around Rs 240,000 at the end of four years if the vehicle is driven for roughly 2000 km per month, the company said.

Iyer said that they produce their BEVs in India and have achieved a 30 per cent localization. Other geographies (outside of Germany) where they have localized EV production include Thailand and Malaysia. “We were the first luxury OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in India to launch an EV in 2019,” Iyer said.

As such, Mercedes posted its best-ever H1 calendar sales in H1CY24, delivering 9,262 cars between January and June this year. This is a 9 per cent Y-o-Y growth. Around 55 per cent of this comes from SUVs, and 25 per cent from top-end vehicles (those priced above Rs 1 crore). The Maybach was the fastest-growing portfolio in H1CY24 — clocking 108 per cent growth. The company did not share segment-wise breakup of sales.

Iyer said, “We had a lot of pent-up demand on the Maybach, and the supplies came in H1CY24. Our top-end vehicles continue to contribute 25 per cent of our overall India sales. And we delivered a lot of Maybachs in the first half of the year.”

The waiting period is still 3-12 months for a Maybach, he added.