‘Shift to luxury cars will gain pace as EV market matures’
electric vehicle market in India will prove to be a tipping point for faster penetration of luxury vehicles, as the EV mass market price points shift from ₹10 lakh- ₹20 lakh to ₹30 lakh- ₹35 lakh, making the transition from mass market to luxury vehicle “more gradual" and “easier", said Santosh Iyer, managing director and chief executive, Mercedes Benz India. The company, which sells only two electric models in India—its flagship EQS sedan and a seven-seater electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) EQB—said it will launch three to four EVs within 12-18 months. However, EVs are not the “top priority" for Mercedes, due to a lack of availability globally.
“We are confident EVs will be 25% of sales in the next three years, but it’s not like it is the top agenda right now, because before product introduction, availability must be secured. That is something we have learned in the last few years. A lot of customer dissatisfaction also comes when you launch a car but don’t make it available.
So, when we get allocations in terms of availability, we will accelerate our plans," Iyer added. Mercedes Benz, however, says it will not come in at more affordable price categories when it comes to EVs. “We are very clear in our strategy that we will focus on top-end.
We won’t chase volumes for any cost. Eventually we will also have entry levels, but we believe EVs will flow top-down in our portfolio", Iyer said. Despite the flurry of luxury car model launches, the category still makes up only about 1% of India’s passenger vehicle market.
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