Even I can’t afford your cars”- Nitin Gadkari urges Mercedes to produce locally
The latest EV launched by Mercedes-Benz costs a whopping ₹ 1.55 crore. So, Union Road Transport Nitin Gadkari has one piece of advice for the German carmaker: make more cars in the country so that the costs will come down.
Speaking at an event of the premium carmaker in Pune on Friday, the union minister said that producing more cars locally can reduce the overall cost of manufacturing besides increasing affordability.
PTI quoted the minister as saying, "You increase the production, only then it is possible to reduce cost. We are middle-class people, even I can't afford your car."
At the launch of EQS 580 4MATIC EV, Mercedes Benz India's first locally assembled EV from its Chakan manufacturing facility in Pune, Gadkari emphasized on the need to produce more EVs locally. The minister said that there is a huge market for electric vehicles in the country.
The minister added that there are a total of 15.7 lakh registered electric vehicles in the country and the overall EV sales is rising at 335 percent.
As more highways are coming up across the country, they are going to open up new markets for their cars, the minister told Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz's EQS 580 4MATIC EV is set to the company's flagship EQC SUV and AMG EQS53 4MATIC EV. The EQS 580 offers an 857 kms range. The car is equipped with a high-power density lithium-ion battery that comes with a usable energy content of 107.8 kWh.
Mercedes-Benz India started its EV journey in India with the launch of its all-electric SUV EQC. The car was launched as a fully imported unit in October 2020 priced at ₹ 1.07 crore.
The union minister also raised the idea of Mercedes-Benz setting up joint ventures in the country for establishing vehicle scrapping units, which will help the company reduce its manufacturing cost by essentially 30 per cent.
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