Mercedes-Benz India issued a customer advisory on E20 petrol this week after YouTuber Sourav Joshi told his 41 million subscribers that his Mercedes-Benz SUV had returned as little as 5 kmpl on ethanol-blended fuel. The advisory reaffirms that the company’s petrol BS VI vehicles are E20-compatible and points customers to its dealer network for technical queries.
The viral clip has put one of India’s largest luxury carmakers at the centre of an E20 debate that has only grown louder since Joshi posted it. The brand is now fielding customer queries while the government pushes ahead with ethanol blending and prepares trials for the next blend, E25.
What the Vlogger Showed on Camera
Joshi runs one of India’s most-watched daily vlogs from Haldwani, Uttarakhand. In a video titled ‘Race With Brothers. Kon Jeetega?’, he sat behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC (Petrol), priced over ₹80 lakh, and pointed the camera at the live dashboard. The SUV is rated at a company-claimed fuel average of around 15 kmpl.
The car, he said, had been returning 17 kmpl. Then 9 kmpl. Then, while the camera rolled, 5 kmpl. “Yesterday I showed you our car’s mileage had gone from 17 straight down to nine,” Joshi told his audience, before pointing the camera at a dashboard read-out showing five. He put the blame on E20, the ethanol-blended petrol now sold across India, and said a full tank that once covered about 800 kilometres now shows a range near 480 kilometres.
His wife, Avantika Bhatt, added her own reaction on camera: “We spent so much money on this car!” Joshi told viewers he feared the ethanol blend could damage the engine, and said a breakdown would mean sending the SUV to Delhi for repairs. The clip cut between dashboard footage and shots of the SUV being refuelled at a local pump.
That uncertainty hangs over the viral figures. HT’s report on the vlogger’s viral mileage clip noted it was not clear whether Joshi was referring to fuel average over time or to real-time data that can swing sharply with driving conditions.
Mercedes-Benz India’s Customer Advisory
In response, Mercedes-Benz India put out a written advisory saying its petrol BS VI vehicles are “materially compatible” with E20 petrol and have been certified by the relevant authorities. The advisory says customer safety, vehicle reliability and performance remain the company’s top priorities, and invites owners with technical queries to contact the brand or visit a dealership. The document is short on engineering detail and long on reassurance, and the brand’s customer advisory post on its official X account simply labels it “Customer Advisory” with a downloadable image. That is the company’s official public line so far.
The brand has not, per Free Press Journal reporting on the deletion of the clip and the unanswered lawsuit call, taken any legal action against Joshi despite a viral social media post urging it to sue him. The same outlet reported that Joshi has since deleted the vlog segment containing the mileage claim.
Why the Carmaker Is Pointing at Fuel Adulteration
Mercedes-Benz India’s deeper argument is that not every mileage complaint is ethanol’s fault. Fuel adulteration, the company says, is doing part of the work.
At a recent roundtable, Santosh Iyer, managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, said the brand has been fielding a wave of customer queries since the E20 rollout. He told reporters that vehicles Mercedes has sold since 2020 are engineered to handle ethanol mixtures, and that the brand was among the first to roll out materially E20-compliant cars. He also pointed to a parallel problem. “We have seen increased fuel adulteration happening under the garb of E20,” Iyer told the round table, blaming tampering at regional pumps for part of the customer anxiety that has rolled into dealerships.
Iyer told Autocar India that stronger enforcement at fuel stations would help separate genuine fuel-quality issues from concerns genuinely linked to ethanol. The brand has equipped its dealer network with an FAQ playbook to handle the rise in customer questions, a position it has now turned into a public argument about how India’s E20 transition is being managed.
Where the Government Draws the Line
The government’s response has been a flat denial. Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari told the press that no car has been shown to have faced issues due to E20 petrol, and called the viral complaints a “concerted false narrative.” Oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri separately dismissed claims of engine damage as a “misinterpretation.” His ministry conceded what drivers had begun to suspect on their own: older vehicles, it said, can see a 3-5% reduction in fuel economy because ethanol carries less energy per litre than petrol. To soften that, Gadkari said carmakers will replace damaged parts, mainly washers, in older vehicles using E20 fuel at no extra cost during servicing.
For context, India had initially aimed to roll out 20% ethanol blending by 2030. The target was pulled forward to the 2025-26 ethanol supply year. The government says the programme cuts crude imports, lowers emissions, and creates a parallel market for sugarcane and other crops used to make ethanol.
- Ethanol blending mandate: 20% (E20), target accelerated from 2030 to the 2025-26 ethanol supply year
- Older-vehicle mileage impact per the oil ministry: 3-5% reduction
- ARAI’s E25 trials: 150,000 kilometres before International Centre for Automotive Technology review
What Mercedes Wants Before E25
Mercedes-Benz India is not pushing back on ethanol itself. The brand’s ask is about pacing. “Give us time, allow us to change what is required up to a reasonable extent,” Santosh Iyer told The Economic Times in an interview on his call for a phased ethanol transition. He said the company’s newer vehicles are compatible with E20, and that some models, including the new S-Class Hybrid, can run on E25, which contains 25% ethanol.
Give us time, allow us to change what is required up to a reasonable extent.
The bigger worry, Iyer said, is what happens to the older vehicles already on Indian roads. He has asked the government to keep offering more than one grade of petrol at fuel stations during the transition, so owners of older cars can choose fuel matched to their engines. The Automotive Research Association of India is expected to run 150,000-kilometre trials using E25 petrol before the International Centre for Automotive Technology reviews the findings.
- More time to adapt vehicles and components to higher blends
- Multiple fuel grades available at the pump during the transition
- A formal roadmap that protects owners of older vehicles
E20 is currently the highest ethanol blend tested for use across conventional petrol vehicles, and any move to a higher blend would require fresh trials. The testing cycle Mercedes is asking for is the same one the Automotive Research Association of India is now planning to run.
Sales Are Climbing Even as the Debate Runs
The mileage row has not dented Mercedes-Benz India’s order book. The company sold 9,768 vehicles in the first half of 2026, a record, up 9% from a year earlier. Its pending order book sits at around 2,000 vehicles, roughly one-fifth of its H1 sales.
The wider luxury market is on a similar trajectory. Iyer told businessline the segment is likely to grow about 10% this year, taking the industry from around 52,000-53,000 vehicles last year to about 56,000-57,000 vehicles. About 60% of that demand sits in the core segment between ₹55 lakh and ₹1.4 crore, where Mercedes-Benz does most of its business. Almost 28% of Mercedes’s first-half units came from its top-end portfolio. The brand is preparing a 1-2% price increase in July or early August to offset currency moves and rising input costs.
| Indicator | Mercedes-Benz India (H1 2026) |
|---|---|
| Retail sales | 9,768 vehicles |
| Year-on-year change | +9% |
| Pending order book | ~2,000 vehicles |
| Top-end share of H1 sales | ~28% |
| Planned price increase | 1-2%, July or early August 2026 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is E20 petrol safe for Mercedes-Benz cars sold in India?
Mercedes-Benz India’s customer advisory says all its petrol BS VI vehicles are fully compatible with E20 fuel and have been certified by the relevant authorities. The advisory invites owners with technical queries to contact the brand or visit a dealership.
Did Sourav Joshi delete the mileage-claim segment from his vlog?
Yes. The Free Press Journal reported that Joshi removed the segment from his channel after the clip went viral. Mercedes-Benz India has not announced any legal action against him.
What does the government say about the mileage drop claims?
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has dismissed the viral complaints as a “concerted false narrative.” The oil ministry has acknowledged that older vehicles may see a 3-5% reduction in fuel economy on E20 due to ethanol’s lower energy density, and said carmakers will replace affected parts, mainly washers, in older cars at no extra cost during servicing.
When will India move to E25 petrol?
The Automotive Research Association of India is expected to conduct 150,000-kilometre trials using E25 petrol before the International Centre for Automotive Technology reviews the findings. Mercedes-Benz India has said its new S-Class Hybrid can already run on E25.
