'Will stay at top end with our EV offerings"

Mercedes-Benz’s global EV strategy is to exit the volume segment play

- Alisha Sachdev

Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd, the country’s largest luxury carmaker, will follow a top-down strategy with its electric vehicles (EVs) in alignment with its global plan to exit the “volume segment" play, and hopes to benefit from the fact that its rivals are launching EVs in more affordable price brackets, competing with mass-market players, a top company executive said.

Top-end vehicles contribute to a quarter of the German carmaker’s sales in India, whereas entry-level luxury models contribute close to 15% of its sales.

Mercedes-Benz India on Friday launched its first EV for the market in this year, the EQE SUV at ₹1.39 crore, after introducing the locally-assembled EQS sedan and the EQB SUV last year. This will be the Stuttgart-based carmaker’s seventh new launch in India in the calendar year, and the third product in its battery electric vehicle (BEV) portfolio at present.