Mercedes’ EQ electric sub-brand will launch 10 new pure-electric vehicles between 2019 and 2025 - and this push could conceivably be in addition to successors to the current electric Smart vehicles.
The German manufacturer’s new sub-brand will start the pure-electric push with the production version of the Generation EQ concept revealed at Paris. It’s likely to be seen in 2018 before deliveries start the following year.
As revealed by Auto Express in August, the company has registered all suitable EQ-prefixed badges, suggesting that everything from a small EQA to a large saloon called EQS could be feasible. Mercedes Marketing & Sales boss Ola Kallenius (MAG Källenius) told us, “Over a broad range of our portfolio, in volume segments, we will have attractive products at differing price ranges. This is a volume bet.”
Kallenius declined to confirm that the next generation of Smart EVs would be part of the EQ push, however. “We’ll see what we end up doing with the Smarts,” he said. “Right now, that’s the Smart Electric Drive and EQ is EQ.”
He did admit, however, that even within the time frame to 2025, additional hybrid models could be added to EQ’s pure-electric range. “Can we use the EQ brand for more? Possibly,” he said. “We can look at intelligent plug-in hybrid models, and so on. There is room to do more than this brand. EQ need not be pure EV, although at the moment, it is.”
EQ models will be built alongside conventional Mercedes, as the firm tries to avoid the costly production processes involved in BMW’s carbonfibre-heavy i vehicles. “Flexibility will be key - both in engineering and in the production network,” said Kallenius. “We must design and develop these cars in such a way so we can use engineering models from different vehicles, like we do already today between our regular cars. And we have must have flexibility in our production network so we can switch between cars that are based on combustion engines and cars that are fully electric. I believe we can make money on this project. The key is to get the costs down, especially on the batteries.”
When asked why Mercedes can make money on EQ where BMW has struggled to return a profit on its i eco-cars, Kallenius said, “If you go to a party first and you’re a little bit too early, you can run out of steam. If you come too late, you’ll notice the party is kind of over. Timing is everything here.”
Kallenius also revealed that Merc’s new electric vehicles will be sold from conventional dealers - though they are likely to get their own ‘branded’ areas of the showrooms, as with AMG performance variants. The firm is also keen for more of its customers - conventional and EQ - to be able to buy cars online.
“We’re in the middle of the digital revolution,” Kallenius said. “Everything in sales and marketing is going through digitisation. That doesn’t mean physical retailers aren’t important; they are. But the end result will be something that mixes the two. The human touch and the test drive are still important. What you don’t want is to be bogged down with five hundred pieces of paper and checks. The whole transactional piece should be easier.
• Best electric cars to buy now
“Every car that has the three-pointed star on the bonnet should have that special Mercedes moment,” he added. “The EQ customers should expect and receive the same level of customer experience.”
Can Mercedes EQ challenge BMW i in the electric car market? Let us know what you think in the comments...
from Featured Articles http://ift.tt/2daXBmG
Comments
Post a Comment