Bulk of Mercedes cars on road E20-compliant: MD & CEO Santosh Iyer

Iyer was talking to reporters on Tuesday night after launching the Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 4MATIC+ Coupe -- a high-performance, two-door luxury model -- in India

Bulk of Mercedes-Benz cars currently on Indian roads are E20-compliant and the luxury carmaker has been selling such models in the country since 2018, the firm’s India Managing Director & CEO Santosh Iyer (pictured) told Business Standard in an interview. 

E20 compliance means that a vehicle’s engine, fuel system, and emission-control components are designed and tested to operate safely on petrol blended with up to 20 per cent ethanol without causing damage. There have, however, been heightened social media discussions during the past few weeks about whether E20 fuel affects efficiency and engine performance. 

“Mercedes Benz was the first in India to introduce a BS-6 compliant car. In August 2018, we introduced the new S class, which was BS-6 compliant...Mr. Gadkari (Union roads minister) himself flagged that car,” Iyer said, adding that all BS-6 compliant cars sold in India have been E20 compliant, too. 

 

The German carmaker has not tested the “cars that were sold prior” to August 2018 for the impact of E20 fuel on their engines and fuel efficiency.  

Meanwhile, Iyer admitted that cars sold prior to 2018 might face a slight impact on performance due to E20 fuel, which is now being sold at fuel pumps. 

“We have sold close to 200,000 cars in India in the past 30 years. However, the past 100,000 units were sold just in the past six years. The last 150,000 units were sold in the past 10 years. So, a bulk of the cars that we would have sold in India would be E20-compliant,” he noted. 

Iyer was talking to reporters on Tuesday night after launching the Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 4MATIC+ Coupé — a high-performance, two-door luxury model — in India, with prices starting at ₹1.35 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi). 

“In 2024, we started getting the E20 certificates for our cars. So, in that sense, all our cars that we sell in India are fully compliant today on the E20,” he said. 

“I think material compatibility (with E20 fuel) also remains for cars that we have sold earlier. But the fuel, and by the laws of physics and chemistry, you can say that if you have a lower or higher ethanol rating, the combustion process is different... I would say that you will definitely have a difference in performance,” he said. 

“But today, the cars that we are currently selling have no change in performance because they are all compatible with the E20 fuel,” he pointed out. 

“The cars that were sold many years back might have had a slight impact on the performance, but otherwise, I think the government’s direction is clear and from April 2024, we started getting our cars certified as E20 compliant,” he noted. Mercedes-Benz, India’s top luxury carmaker, started FY25-26 with its best-ever April–June sales, delivering 4,238 cars, a 10 per cent increase from last year.