Mercedes-Benz will continue to invest in India, despite impending EU-India FTA.
View Personalised Offers on
Check OffersMercedes-Benz is the leading brand in the Indian luxury car market. With a wide range of models on offer, the automaker competes with rivals like Audi and BMW in this space. However, despite the tough competition, when it comes to the market share, Mercedes-Benz holds the lion’s share. The German auto giant has now stated that it sees India as a priority market for the company and will continue to invest here.
Speaking about the luxury car manufacturer’s India strategy, Mathias Geisen, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said that the auto company will continue investing in the priority market India, without putting on hold any of its plans, including to bolster local production, in the wake of the impending EU-India free trade agreement. He has termed India a high-growth market for the brand. Geisen also noted that the company has envisioned multiple scenarios, keeping in mind the possible outcome of the trade agreement.
While speaking about whether the company looks to put certain plans, like investing more in CKD facilities for certain models, on hold in India until clarity emerges on the final framework of the EU-India FTA, Geisen said that Mercedes-Benz has not put any plans on hold compared to what the company had originally. “I mean, of course, we have different scenarios, like we always work with, and some of the scenarios, of course, include this topic. And accordingly, we have plans, but that really depends finally on how the regulations will turn out,” Geisen stated, while further adding, “We, in general, believe in free trade. It is always something which helps, and we believe that this also pushes the economy absolutely.”
Mercedes-Benz sees India as a priority and growth market
Mercedes-Benz registered sales of 19,565 cars in India last year, which was the brand’s best-ever annual sales performance to date in India. Noting that, Geisen said India remains a priority and growth market for the German luxury carmaker. “We have our own product facility in India, so that’s a very, very important growth market. And we also believe with the products we have in the pipeline, we can address this market pretty well. And we always look into where localisation makes sense and where not. And India is definitely on our priority list,” he noted.
Geisen also said that the Indian market is getting tougher with other OEMs also realising the country’s long-term growth potential. “We are leading, which is nice, but it’s also getting tougher and tougher. And of course, not only us, but also other OEMs realise that India will be a market with a strong growth, not only potential, but with a real growth, and investing more and more in CKD production, etc,” he said.
Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2025, Best SUVs in India.
First Published Date: 10 Sept 2025, 09:26 am IST
