Santosh Iyer on Luxury EV resale: ‘Buyers are benchmarking replacement cost’

Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director Santosh Iyer

For years, luxury EV buyers in India worried about one question above all else: what happens when the battery ages and resale values collapse?That fear had triggered steep corrections across the used luxury EV market, with affluent buyers often treating pre-owned electric cars as distressed assets vulnerable to rapid technology upgrades and weak resale confidence.Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director Santosh Iyer now says that psychology is beginning to change.According to Iyer, affluent buyers are increasingly benchmarking luxury EVs against replacement costs rather than traditional depreciation curves, helping premium electric vehicles such as the Mercedes-Benz EQS retain stronger residual values in the secondary market.“Mercedes-Benz vehicles (both ICE and BEVs) command comparatively higher RV owing to lesser availability in the organized market due to longer ownership cycles,” Iyer told businessline. “EQS SUV is Mercedes-Benz’s best-selling luxury BEV spearheading our BEV offensive, having exceptionally high demand.”Dealers say the improving residual-value trend is now becoming visible across flagship luxury EVs in the secondary market.