Export Of Mercedes Cars From India Down To Financials, Says Daimler

2020 Mercedes E350d — It is all down to costs says Daimler, about exports from India

Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius has revealed that export of Mercedes-Benz cars from India would happen if it made “economical sense” but also added that it has not been the case so far.

“If it will make economical sense, we would do so. But that has not been the case up until this point. I don’t know when it would be. If we have to make any decision in that direction, it would come down to the financials,” said he.

It is no secret that India has, over the years, become one of the biggest manufacturing hubs in the world and many carmakers have set up shop here taking advantage of the resources on offer, be it manpower, skill or cost-effectiveness.

But Mercedes’ parent firm Daimler does not see it that way, despite having exported India-made GLC SUVs to the United States of America a couple of years ago. It had stated back then that India is a backup solution export-wise, with the option to be utilised in case global demand rises exponentially.

“I am kind of an India fan. They do a lot of things. In the meantime, some components have actually moved to India permanently for worldwide responsibility. So, this will remain an important part of our engineering effort and where it takes us, I don’t know,” the Daimler CEO said after unveiling the new S-Class.

The German auto giant has two factories in India – one at Pune for making Mercedes-Benz cars and the other at Chennai to manufacture Bharat Benz range of trucks, apart from having a global R&D and engineering centre in Bangaluru.

One thing that Daimler desperately wants to change is the sales figures Mercedes-Benz currently does in India. The brand has been present here for decades and it seems it is not doing the sort of numbers Daimler wants.

To put it into perspective, Ola Kallenius spoke in a language everybody understands – food. “We have a good position in the market, but it feels… that you are shaking a ketchup bottle but the ketchup has not come out yet,” he stated.

For a country such as India with its massive economic growth potential and an equally massive population, Daimler feels more luxury cars should be sold in the market. We’ll, let the future speak for itself.