Mercedes-Benz announces it will add a new EQE sedan as well as higher-riding EQE SUV and EQS SUV to its all-electric EQ sub-brand lineup as part of sweeping change in the German automaker’s operating strategy.
The three new EQ models, confirmed this week by Mercedes-Benz Chairman Ola Kallenius during an investor conference, have been conceived around the company’s dedicated electric vehicle architecture (EVA) platform, the same structure that will underpin the upcoming EQS sedan currently undergoing the final phase of development ahead of a planned introduction to the North American market during second-half 2021.
The addition of the EQE sedan, EQE SUV and EQS SUV extends the automaker’s planned EQ lineup to eight models in combination with the existing EQC and EQV as well as the upcoming EQA, EQB and EQS sedan.
Mercedes-Benz’s daughter company Smart, which is 50% owned by Chinese automaker Geely, produces battery-electric versions of the Fortwo, Fortwo Cabriolet and ForFour hatchback.
In addition to the trio of new EQ models, Mercedes-Benz confirms plans for a new dedicated electric-car platform for compact and midsize models called MMA, which is slated to go into production in 2025.
Kallenius, meanwhile, confirms long-running rumors suggesting the automaker plans to create a new sub-brand out of its iconic G-Class off-roader. “The demand for the G is ahead of current capacity,” he says.
Mercedes-Benz also says electrification of its AMG performance models will begin in 2021, and the Maybach lineup will double in size.
In a move that will significantly increase its roster of electrified models, Mercedes-Benz announces all three sub-brands — AMG, Maybach and G — “will go electric.”
The sweeping changes form part of Mercedes-Benz’s so-called “Ambition 2039” initiative, which is focused on providing it with a CO2-neutral fleet by 2039.
In announcing the new strategy, Kallenius (above, left) says moves are under way to improve profitability and cash generation. He says Mercedes-Benz plans to cut fixed costs by “more than 20% by 2025 in absolute terms compared to a 2019 baseline, via reduced spending, capacity adjustments and lower personnel costs.”
He says capital expenditure and R&D costs will decrease more than 20% by 2025 compared to 2019.
“By 2025, Mercedes-Benz is aiming for a return on sales within the mid-to-high single-digit range, even under unfavorable market conditions,” Kallenius says.
The Mercedes-Benz chairman previously announced the company will spend up to €10 billion ($11.8 billion) to establish a 10-strong EQ model lineup by the end of 2025.
During the investor conference, the automaker released a marketing video of prototype versions of the EQS sedan, EQE sedan and EQS SUV undergoing testing in the Black Forest region of Germany.
In the video, Mercedes-Benz’s vice president of electric vehicle architecture and EQ vehicles, Christoph Starzynski, describes the EQE as a “business limousine of the future” that is “slightly smaller than the EQS.”
In the first acknowledgement of the EQS SUV, Starzynski says: “We can also go bigger with our platform. The EQS SUV is coming in 2022.”
No details are provided for the EQE SUV, though insiders suggest it is planned to be launched in 2023.
Mercedes-Benz has been testing prototypes of all-electric EQ vehicles.
As well as being planned for production in Germany, at least one of the new EQ models, the EQE sedan, is set to be produced in a joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry Corp. (BAIC) in China, where documents from the country’s Ministry for Industry and Information Technology list it under its internal codename, V295.
Mercedes-Benz will not comment on plans to produce all-electric EQ models at its plant in Tuscaloosa, AL.
Speaking about the status of EQS sedan development, Starzynski, says: “The EQS has already piled up more than 2 million test kilometers (1.25 million miles).”
Production of the EQS will take place alongside the newly unveiled seventh-generation S-Class at Mercedes-Benz’s Factory 56 facility in Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart, in Germany.
Contrary to previous reports, Mercedes-Benz says its new entry-level EQ model, the GLA-based EQA, is planned to see production before the end of the year. It is among three EQ models set for introduction in 2021, alongside the GLB-based EQB and EQS sedan.
Meanwhile, Wards understands Mercedes-Benz is planning to further extend the EQ lineup with a third, smaller sedan model using the same driveline as the upcoming EQA in a modified version of the A-Class sedan for the Chinese market.
