Mercedes-Benz CEO shares his experience taking an auto ride to beat the Pune traffic

Sharing a picture on Instagram, Martin Schwenk wrote, “If your S-class is stuck in traffic on the wonderful Pune roads – what do you do? Maybe getting off the car, starting walking for a few kilometers, and then grabbing a rickshaw?”

The post garnered various reactions from the netizens and it created a buzz with people commenting and liking the photo shared by Martin Schwenk.

A netizen commented by saying,”#PerfectDesicionOfCEO🔥🔥👏👏 as per situation have to change the strategy👏👏 Excellent CEO. Another user commented,”There has to be a backup plan for everything.. welcome to Pune traffic.”

Meanwhile, Martin Schwenk said that a trade deal that puts India in a competitive situation or gives it an advantage over other markets where Mercedes produces cars would “definitely help”, Martin Schwenk said in an interview with Reuters, when asked about the German firm’s export plans.

“To produce one car out of India for all markets of the world could be a strategy. But if we cannot, for example, export to the EU without penalties then we will not be able to compete against our factory in Hungary,” he said.

Mercedes recently launched its first locally built electric vehicle (EV) in India – the EQS 580, a variant of its flagship S-Class sedan, with plans to potentially build more clean cars in the country.

“We are aiming in the next 8-10 years, to fully electrify the portfolio and be an electric manufacturer here. The intention is to build the capability now and depending on how demand develops … increase the numbers,” he said, adding the current strategy was not to export.

To produce a model in one location would require an annual volume of 150,000 to 200,000 cars, Schwenk said.

Although Mercedes is India’s largest luxury carmaker, it sold just 11,242 cars in 2021. At its peak in 2018, it sold 15,500.