'Even I can't afford your car': What Nitin Gadkari told Mercedes-Benz

The latest EV from Mercedes-Benz comes at a whopping Rs 1.55 crore. So, Union Road Transport Nitin Gadkari has one advice to the German carmaker: make more cars locally so that the costs will come down.

Gadkari, speaking at event of the premium carmaker in Pune on Friday, said producing more cars locally reduces the cost besides increasing affordability.

"You increase the production, only then it is possible to reduce cost. We are middle-class people, even I can't afford your car," PTI quoted the minister as saying.


At the rollout of Mercedes-Benz India's first locally assembled EQS 580 4MATIC EV from its Chakan manufacturing facility in Pune, Gadkari said there is a huge market for electric vehicles in the country.

There are a total of 15.7 lakh registered electric vehicles in the country and the overall EV sales is rising 335 per cent, he said.

He told Mercedes-Benz that with new highways coming up across the country there would be a bigger market for their cars.

Mercedes-Benz's EQS 580 joins the company's EQC SUV and AMG EQS53 4MATIC flagship EV.The EQS 580 4MATIC offers an 857 kms range. The high-power density of the lithium-ion battery comes with a usable energy content of 107.8 kWh.

Mercedes-Benz India started its electro-mobility drive in India with the launch of its all-electric SUV EQC as a fully imported unit in October 2020 priced at Rs 1.07 crore.

The Union minister also mooted the idea of Mercedes-Benz setting up joint ventures for establishing vehicle scrapping units, which will help the company reduce its parts' cost by as much as 30 per cent.