Mercedes-Benz introduced a lineup of new electric vehicles based on a flexible architecture that will enable the automaker to adapt its manufacturing to a variety of styles and shapes of vehicles.
The new models are:
1. The flagship EQS luxury sedan, which Mercedes said would be part of the automaker’s S-Class segment and will go into production in 2021.
2. An SUV version of the EQS, the EQS SUV, coming in 2022
3. The EQE sedan, not unlike Mercedes’ E-Class vehicles and described as the “business limousine of the future”
4. An SUV version of the EQS
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Furthermore, the Mercedes EQA, a compact SUV based on the GLA series of the automaker, will go into production later this year, followed in 2021 by the EQB crossover SUV. That’s a total of six new electric vehicles released over the course of the next two years. This will go a long way toward helping Mercedes realize its goal of releasing 10 new EVs by 2020. The EQS will be the first built on Mercedes’ new modular electric vehicle platform.
Literally and metaphorically, Mercedes also keeps a lot of details about these vehicles under wraps. The automaker said the EQS is expected to get 700 kilometers (430 miles) of range based on the European WLTP testing standards. You can probably extrapolate some of the specs and design features of the EQS based on the Vision EQS concept car that was released last year.
The announcement came during a broader strategy presentation by Daimler, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company, during which executives outlined plans to slash 20 percent of operating costs by 2025 and cutting vehicles from the automaker’s lineup. The cost reductions will almost certainly result in further layoffs, after Daimler announced it would cut 30,000 jobs over the summer.
The company wants to reposition Mercedes-Benz as a “luxury” brand, as opposed to a “premium” segment where it has existed for decades. In other words, more like Rolls-Royce and Bentley than Audi, BMW, Jaguar, and Lexus.
In launching new electric vehicles, Mercedes is widely seen as lagging behind other major automakers. The company’s $68,000 EQC SUV was supposed to start shipping in the US at the start of 2020, but that was pushed to 2021.
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