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Inside Three-Pointed Star's Global EV Rethink and Why the CLA Matters More Than It Seems

After years of building EVs under a separate identity, Mercedes-Benz is folding electric models back into its core brand — with the CLA marking the start of a deeper global reset in architecture, software and design philosophy.

By Ketan Thakkar

06 Mar 2026

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Inside Three-Pointed Star's Global EV Rethink and Why the CLA Matters More Than It Seems

For most of the last decade, Mercedes-Benz has led India’s luxury car market with an authority few rivals can match. Scale, brand appeal and a widest modern portfolio has kept the three-pointed star firmly at the top.

Electric mobility, however, has proved to be a more intricate chapter. Seen early on as a disruptive force that could redefine the future of mobility, Mercedes-Benz chose to carve out a distinct electric identity, complete with its own design language and architecture. The EQ range was conceived not merely as a powertrain shift, but as a brand-within-a-brand.

That strategy delivered early ...

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