Mercedes-Benz launches the GLC Electric in India at ₹78.5 lakh — already sold out till March 2027

Mercedes-Benz India has launched the GLC Electric at ₹78.5 lakh (ex-showroom), bringing a fully electric version of its best-selling SUV nameplate to local assembly lines for the first time. The car becomes the entry point to Mercedes' electric SUV range in India, slotting in below the EQS SUV and above the EQB, and arrives with more than 1,000 bookings already on the books — enough, the company says, to sell out the car's production until March 2027.

What happened

The GLC Electric launched today at Mercedes-Benz's Chakan plant near Pune, where the car is built locally rather than imported as a completely knocked-down kit. Mercedes says this is the fastest it has ever brought a new global model to India as a locally assembled car — arriving less than six months after the GLC Electric's international unveil.

For now, India gets a single variant: the GLC 400 4MATIC, priced at ₹78.5 lakh ex-showroom. It pairs a 94kWh battery pack with two electric motors — one on each axle — for all-wheel drive, producing a combined 489bhp and 800Nm of torque. Mercedes quotes a 0-100kph time of 4.3 seconds, which is brisk for a family SUV weighing in at 2,535kg kerb weight. The electrical architecture runs at 800 volts, letting the car accept DC fast charging at up to 330kW; Mercedes says 10-80% takes about 22 minutes, and a 10-minute top-up can add up to 300-305km of range under the right conditions. Mercedes claims a maximum WLTP range of 715km, with the official figure ranging between 568km and 715km depending on specification.

Despite carrying the GLC name, the Electric is not a battery-swapped version of the combustion SUV. It's built on a dedicated EV platform, measures 4,845mm long with a 2,972mm wheelbase — 84mm longer than the regular GLC's, which Mercedes says translates into 47mm of extra rear legroom — and gets its own styling, including an illuminated grille with 942 lit elements and a 39.1-inch MBUX Hyperscreen that merges the driver display, central infotainment and front-passenger screen into one panel. Standard equipment includes AIRMATIC air suspension, with rear-wheel steering (up to 4.5 degrees) offered as an option that Mercedes says shrinks the turning circle from 12.1 metres to 11.2 metres. The driver-assistance suite, branded MB.DRIVE, draws on up to 10 external cameras, five radar sensors and 12 ultrasonic sensors for adaptive cruise control, lane-change assistance and automated parking. The regular petrol and diesel GLC continues on sale unchanged alongside it.

What it means for an Indian buyer

At ₹78.5 lakh ex-showroom — working out to roughly ₹83-91 lakh on-road depending on the city, per dealer price lists — the GLC Electric undercuts most pre-launch estimates, which had pointed to ₹80-90 lakh. Local assembly at Chakan is almost certainly why: it lets Mercedes avoid the import duties that weigh on fully built-up EVs, and the company is explicit that this is the strategy behind pricing it where it has. For now, it has the segment largely to itself — its most direct rival, the long-wheelbase BMW iX3, isn't expected in India until 2027 — so anyone drawn to a locally built, badge-prestige electric SUV in this price band doesn't have much to cross-shop against today.

The practical catch is availability, not price. With the car already sold out until March 2027, a booking placed this week buys a place in a four-to-five-month queue, not a car for Diwali. If you need an electric SUV sooner, that waiting period alone may be reason enough to look at the EQB, an imported rival, or the regular petrol/diesel GLC instead. Buyers who do book should also budget for the gap between the quoted ex-showroom figure and the on-road price — insurance alone varies by several lakh between cities in CarWale's own table, driven mostly by how each state calculates vehicle tax on an EV this expensive.

One spec to note before signing: the India-spec car does without rear-wheel steering and air suspension's more adaptive, off-road-oriented features that some international markets get as standard, riding instead on the base passive-damper setup unless the optional kit is specified — worth confirming at the dealership rather than assuming the brochure's top-spec description is what arrives.

The Auto Grid angle

A nearly 2.5-tonne EV riding on a flat underbody battery pack is exactly the kind of car that needs its lower panels and bonnet protected from day one — stone chips and speed-breaker scrapes don't wait for a car to clear its waiting period before they start, and a battery-electric SUV's motor-forward nose and underbody shielding take that abuse first. Anyone collecting a GLC Electric between now and March 2027 should have paint protection film on the bonnet, bumper and sills booked in alongside the delivery date, not as an afterthought once the first chip shows up.

FAQ and what's next

Mercedes-Benz hasn't said whether a second, less powerful or more affordable GLC Electric variant is coming, or when the sold-out order book might reopen for faster delivery. We'll update this once Mercedes confirms either.