Betting big on the growing electric vehicle market in India, luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz is expecting its EV portfolio (present and future) to make up 25 % of its total car sales in the next three years, growing from the current levels of 3-4%.
Mercedes-Benz on Thursday launched the GLC, its new petrol/diesel SUV, in Hyderabad and is planning to launch three to four EVs in the coming 12 to 18 months in India.
MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India has stated that there will be rapid adoption and increased penetration into the segment in the coming 12 to 18 months with new launches and expects sales to be 25% from the said segment.
According to him, it would be easier for Mercedes-Benz car users to adopt electric vehicles as most of them already have charging facilities at home or office and may not depend on public infrastructure.
He also stated that the current investments are Rs. ~2,700 crore in the plant and that they have invested an additional 100 crore with GLC. This capacity is 20,000 to be in India that can be ramped up 2x to 40,000 which are expected to be reached in the next 2-3 years.
On sales figures, MD & CEO, Iyer said the high-end automobiles maker sold over 8,500 cars during the first half of the current year and expects double digit growth for the full year. Iyer said the new petrol/diesel SUV launched today has already garnered over 1,500 bookings so far across the country, and there is a waiting period of about four months for new bookings.
