Mercedes will foray into the Electric Vehicles (EV) segment once India comes up with an EV policy to support the business
Luxury carmaker, Mercedes-Benz has highlighted the importance of a policy for electric vehicles in India. It has further expressed its reluctance to launch electric vehicles in India for the sole reason of lack of a policy and incentives to sell such vehicles.
The company, following the suit of fellow carmakers, has been planning to launch the trending EVs in the country but the lack of a clear EV policy is coming in its way. Michael Jopp, Mercedes-Benz India Vice President, Sales & Marketing, said that the automaker had been wanting to introduce EVs in India, but a policy would support the business. He further said that high import duties on completely built units (CBUs) had left the price of EVs highly uncompetitive in comparison to the vehicles with internal combustion engines.
EV policy
An EV policy has been brought to the picture by Mercedes. It will be of great support in making the EVs a viable business in India. A policy will help to carve out the long-term perspective, framework and additionally, it will also aid in setting up the parameters for selling EVs.
Mercedes has requested the government to consider bringing down the import duty on battery operated electric vehicles to kickstart competition with its other cars produced in India. This, it said, would boost the EV market, which in turn, would aid in expanding charging infrastructure. It further said that growth in this sector would allow the company to explore chances of local production.
The Mercedes-Benz India head also said that the German company would be happy if the government considered plug in hybrids as they would support in the transition from combustion engines to battery electric vehicles.
Currently, India has not come up with a policy as suggested by Mercedes. The carmaker’s entry into the Indian market with its EVs solely depends on policy. It will foray into the segment once it gets what it requires.  Without incentives and strategy, it will be difficult for Mercedes to do the business.
Mercedes aims to have ten battery electric vehicles in its portfolio globally by 2022. It also aims at15-20 per cent share of EVs by 2025.
The carmaker recently launched its updated version of the C-class sedan – C 220 D Prime, C220 D Progressive and C 300 D AMG
