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According to a report by Bloomberg, Mercedes-Benz has committed to manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand after signing an agreement to import its EVs into the country.
Under the agreement, the German carmaker will benefit from lower import and excise duties for fully-imported EVs through 2023, said Ekniti Nitithanprapas, the director general of Thailand’s excise department in a recent statement. He added that the government has paid out 81 million baht (about RM10.32 million) in subsidies for around 540 electric cars purchased in Thailand so far.
The agreement also binds Mercedes-Benz to assemble EVs in Thailand at its plant in the Samut Prakan province, with the EQS being to first to roll off the line. The brand’s flagship EV sedan initially arrived as an imported model offered in two variants – EQS450+ AMG Premium and EQS450+ Edition 1 – priced from 8.57 million baht (about RM1.092 million).
In November this year, Mercedes-Benz Thailand replaced both variants with the EQS500 4Matic AMG Premium that is locally assembled and more affordable at 7.9 million baht (about RM1.007 million). The new variant made its public debut at this year’s Thailand Motor International Motor Expo and offers better specifications and more equipment than the original duo it replaces.
Thailand is the second market after India to produce the EQS outside of Germany, with the latter country’s Pune plant rolling out the EQS580 4Matic since October this year. As of now, Mercedes-Benz Thailand’s EQ line-up only consists of the EQS, while in Malaysia, we just welcomed the EQE to join the EQA, EQB, EQC and EQS. All five offferings are fully imported (CBU) from Germany, although local assembly (CKD) is on the way, as confirmed by Mercedes-Benz Malaysia president and CEO Sagree Sardien.
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