Mercedes
Benz, the German luxury carmaker, has
launched recently its second electric car EQS 580 sedan, in India. It mentioned
that the company would manufacture the EV in Germany. However, India will be
its first base to assemble EVs outside Germany. With this decision, Mercedes
becomes the only and first luxury carmaker to assemble electric vehicles in the
county. It will give an edge to our country over its competitors in terms of
cost.
Mercedes Benz, the luxury carmaker, introduced its
first locally assembled electric vehicle EQS 580, in India. On Friday, the
company announced that it has established its first plant outside Germany in
Chakan, Pune, for EVs.
The Head of Operations and ED of Mercedes Benz India, Mr. Venkatesh Kulkarni, said that the company
manufactures EQS globally at its mother plant in Germany’s Sindelfingen. India
will become the first base of the assembly after Germany.
The luxury automaker works with 6 CKD (completely
knocked down) plants, globally. The import of Completely Built Units comes with
high taxes in India. On the other hand, cars assembled in the country have
comparatively lower import duties.
Mercedes Benz
EQS 580 comes with a starting price of Rs 1.55 crore. It is the second EV
in this portfolio of the company. It comes in our country in a Semi Knocked
Down kit, which is then assembled in the Pune plant. Its range is 857 km, which
is ARAI-certified and the highest among all EVs in India. However, its range at
WLTP real-world conditions is 677 km.
The model manufactured at the Sindelfingen plant of
the company is sold out for one year. Indian customers also need to wait for
its arrival.
Mercedes
Benz Pune plant locally assembles 14
units with a workforce of around 140 people and 30 experts. These experts have
specialized experience in the EV manufacturing journey. But, the parts of the
EQS are imported.
The annual investment in the plant ranges between Rs
150 crore to Rs 250 crore. It usually depends on the number of units. Till now,
the manufacturer has invested Rs 2600 crore in the plant.
Kulkarni also talked about the expansion of the
company’s manufacturing facility. He mentioned that if the market allows, the
possibility of expansion will rise. In such a scenario, the carmaker will plan
to double the capacity. However, it will require adequate investments and time.
Currently, the manufacturing capacity of the plant is
20,000 models. The company is further planning to make more than 16,000 models
this year. Moreover, it is already having an order of 7000 units.
At present, the assembly shop is working in one shift
and the body shop in two shifts. However, the former will start running in two
shifts in October. It indicates that the demand and production requirement is
increasing due to the festive season.