Mercedes-Benz unveils its first next-generation model in India — the electric CLA, which sits between the EQA and EQB

We spoke to Santosh Iyer, CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, at the unveil of the new Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric about their future plans with launching EVs, how the CLA Electric will be positioned in their range amongst the EQA and EQB, and if it will stand in the way of the C-Class sales. Santosh Iyer also spoke about how EVs will be looked at and adapted to in the future with Porsche rolling back their EV program.

On the importance of the electric Mercedes-Benz CLA

When asked about the importance of the CLA and it being a part of the next generation Mercedes-Benz products, Santosh Iyer said “Clearly this is a defining car for us in many ways, CLA is the first one globally as well as in India when you talk about the next generation cars of Mercedes-Benz.”

On the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric’s platform

On being asked if the CLA will be available in hybrid or gasoline form, Santosh Iyer said “This car does not have a full-on plug-in hybrid, this has a combustion engine variant, which is slowly getting introduced in Europe, but this is a ground-up EV. The combustion engine is an add-on to the EV platform. So, it is a hardcore EV platform, so we thought let the Indian consumers get what it is designed for. Now this car with the AI using MB.Charge is the marriage of best of all worlds in terms of convenience of charging, 800 volt architecture, 400 kilometres, charging in 20 minutes in a 240 kilowatt charger, even if you go to 120 it takes 40 minutes for a 400 kilometres.”

This new electric offering from Mercedes-Benz promises a range of 792km from its 85.5kWh battery

On the Mercedes Benz CLA Electric variants

As the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric is launched only in one variant, AMG Line, we asked Santosh Iyer about the strategy behind it, and he said “We want to offer the best, this is a class of its own, and we are not going to compete on price with anyone here, we want to set the trend of owning the best.”

On Mercedes-Benz’s plan going ahead with EVs

We asked Santosh Iyer about their plans moving forward with EVs and mentioned how Porsche have rolled back their EV program, he said “We are lucky, we have the entire powertrain options, so whichever way the market adopts we are able to shift there, I think these cars would grow on a customer, it takes time”

The faux-grille features 142 illuminated three-pointed stars; a connected light eyebrow and three-pointed star headlight signatures

On the sales of the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric

With the arrival of the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric, we asked Santosh Iyer about the sales of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class going forward, he said “C-Class is a baby S-Class in a sense, so it has a different luxury element to it, also for a certain different set of audience, whereas this targets a different Gen Z buyer in a different segment.”

On where the CLA Electric will sit among the EQA and EQB

With the EQA and EQB already on sale, we asked Santosh Iyer where the CLA Electric will sit in their lineup, he said, “That it's a defining car, so it actually bridges all these cars together, of course in that sense we vacate the 50 lakh below segment completely.” With that said he also added “If this car has to come to that segment (below 50 lakhs) it's not possible with the content and then if you try to take out too many things, nobody would want a Mercedes-Benz to be like that.”

The cabin gets a 14-inch central display and 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster; ChatGPT and Gemini integration, powered by an AI supercomputer

On Mercedes-Benz’s focus on TEVs and CLA not being one

When asked about their focus on top-end vehicles in the past, Santosh Iyer said “TEV is cars priced at a certain price point, so if you see across our product portfolio our cars are at a premium, even the past and now as well and that premium is not because we are charging more to the customer, but because there is more content. We are very clear that we are not going to compromise in that sense just to achieve a price point, we will give what a Mercedes-Benz customer wants.”

On the changes in the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric for India

The Mercedes-Benz CLA has been tweaked some for India, we asked about what all had changed according to India, Santosh Iyer said “You know the coefficient drag of 0.21, it helps on the efficiency, but then we said how to balance it also for speed breakers and road bumps, so increased the ground clearance by 16 odd mm to ensure that we are able to clear most of the bumps in India and give a much better driving experience.”

On the combustion engine models for the Mercedes-Benz CLA

With the launch of the electric platform, we asked Santosh Iyer about the combustion engines and he said “At this, at least for 2026, there is no plan, I would say, later on we will see how the market accepts what happens and then decide, but in the near term, there is no plan at all for combustion engine.”

It packs a rear-mounted motor that has a peak output of 268bhp; the tail also features a lightbar flanked by the three-pointed star tail light signatures

On the plans of locally producing the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric

With the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric being brought in as a CBU, we asked Santosh Iyer about localising the production of the CLA, he said “Not for the CLA for sure, because we have not planned it that way, even globally as well as for India as well, so this car will remain CBU, but having said that, we won't price it like a CBU.”

On the buyback schemes offered for the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric

With the major problems of EVs being the residual value after usage, we asked if Mercedes-Benz India is offering buyback schemes for the vehicles, Santosh Iyer said “For sure, across our portfolio, we have a residual value guarantee that we give with the car, and it comes with 8 year battery warranty and so on and so forth.”

The advent of this latest electric model from Mercedes-Benz, is the mark of the beginning of a new automotive regime for the electric cars in India, aside from the brand's EQS range of EVs.