On the sidelines of the 2026 S-Class facelift’s reveal, Mercedes global CEO Ola Källenius said he is absolutely convinced that about the scale of its future in India. In response to a query from Autocar India, Källenius also acknowledged that the India-EU FTA could change things in local production plans. “India is a growth market, so whatever happens, we are going to grow and continue to invest in the country,” he said.
- Mercedes currently locally assembles over 10 model lines in India
- Mercedes India R&D centre’s inputs incorporated in the 2026 S-Class
India input in 2026 Mercedes S-Class facelift
Mercedes’s Bengaluru R&D centre is the brand’s largest outside Europe.
Currently Mercedes-Benz India produces the A-Class, C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, GLA, GLC, GLE and GLS at its plant in Pune (and even the AMG C 43, Maybach S 580, all EQ models) and while details of the FTA are yet to be fully revealed it could change plans for which models are produced in the future. On the potential of localising more and leveraging India as a manufacturing base, the CEO was not specific in his remark, but added, “We will always adjust to achieve the best equilibrium for the models in terms of what to produce and how.”
The plant, and indeed the whole of Mercedes’s business will always be significant in India. The Mercedes Bengaluru R&D centre is the brand’s largest outside of Germany, and Källenius affirms the country will continue to be at the forefront of the brand’s global operations. “The new S-Class has contributions from 5 continents, that's what's required to make the best car in the world and the India R&D centre played an important role,” he said.
Källenius also hailed the contours of the FTA agreement saying, “It’s not possible for both sides in any agreement to get everything but I have to applaud minister Goyal and the EU trade secretary for this important deal."
