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Various automakers are beginning to realize that customers aren't keeping up with their ambitious electric vehicle goals, and Mercedes is the latest to make that conclusion. While it aimed for half of its sales to account for PHEVs and EVs by 2025, the company is now admitting that this feat was a tad unrealistic, and it has pushed that goal back to 2030 as a result.
Whereas Mercedes's initial "Ambition 2039" strategy aimed for the automaker to go fully electric by the end of the decade, this is now when it plans for EVs, along with hybrids, to account for only half of its total sales. Not only are hybrids there to make its goal less of a pipe dream, but the company also notes that this should take place only "where market conditions allow." Its revised strategy also states that Mercedes "will be able to cater to different customer needs until well into the 2030s," which is a fancy way of saying that gas cars will live on well into the next decade.
Meanwhile, Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius spoke to Bloomberg Television, admitting that gas models remain the brand's best sellers. He said that a time in which EVs will cost the same as their respective ICE equivalents "is many years away," and a presentation for investors claims that the cost to manufacture EVs won't match that of ICE models until after 2030, even though upcoming Euro 7 regulations are set to increase the production costs for gas vehicles.
While Mercedes will continue making its popular gas models for years to come, it's not necessarily giving up on EVs just yet. The company is preparing a new MMA platform oriented towards EVs on the more affordable side of the brand's lineup––new CLA, CLA Shooting Brake, and GLB models have been confirmed to ride on MMA, along with a miniature version of the G-Class. EVs on this architecture will be capable of lasting about 466 miles on a single charge, and as much 249 miles can be recovered in just 15 minutes. This platform will, however, still retain support for combustion engines.
Mercedes's EV sales aren't all that bad, as combined sales of PHEVs and EVs from Mercedes rose by 20.5 percent in 2023 compared to the year before, with a total of 401,943 units sold. Interestingly, 240,668 of those vehicles were fully electric, accounting for a staggering rise of 61.3 percent. Meanwhile, 161,275 PHEVs were sold last year, which represents a 12.5 percent decline. But keep in mind that these numbers make up only a small part of Mercedes's total volume––the brand plans to have electrified vehicles make up around 20 percent of its volume this year.
Image Credits: Mercedes
Report
Mar 2, 2024
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Mercedes Is The Latest Automaker To Scale Back Its EV Efforts
The company admits that its goals were a bit too ambitious.
Various automakers are beginning to realize that customers aren't keeping up with their ambitious electric vehicle goals, and Mercedes is the latest to make that conclusion. While it aimed for half of its sales to account for PHEVs and EVs by 2025, the company is now admitting that this feat was a tad unrealistic, and it has pushed that goal back to 2030 as a result.
Whereas Mercedes's initial "Ambition 2039" strategy aimed for the automaker to go fully electric by the end of the decade, this is now when it plans for EVs, along with hybrids, to account for only half of its total sales. Not only are hybrids there to make its goal less of a pipe dream, but the company also notes that this should take place only "where market conditions allow." Its revised strategy also states that Mercedes "will be able to cater to different customer needs until well into the 2030s," which is a fancy way of saying that gas cars will live on well into the next decade.
Meanwhile, Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius spoke to Bloomberg Television, admitting that gas models remain the brand's best sellers. He said that a time in which EVs will cost the same as their respective ICE equivalents "is many years away," and a presentation for investors claims that the cost to manufacture EVs won't match that of ICE models until after 2030, even though upcoming Euro 7 regulations are set to increase the production costs for gas vehicles.
While Mercedes will continue making its popular gas models for years to come, it's not necessarily giving up on EVs just yet. The company is preparing a new MMA platform oriented towards EVs on the more affordable side of the brand's lineup––new CLA, CLA Shooting Brake, and GLB models have been confirmed to ride on MMA, along with a miniature version of the G-Class. EVs on this architecture will be capable of lasting about 466 miles on a single charge, and as much 249 miles can be recovered in just 15 minutes. This platform will, however, still retain support for combustion engines.
Mercedes's EV sales aren't all that bad, as combined sales of PHEVs and EVs from Mercedes rose by 20.5 percent in 2023 compared to the year before, with a total of 401,943 units sold. Interestingly, 240,668 of those vehicles were fully electric, accounting for a staggering rise of 61.3 percent. Meanwhile, 161,275 PHEVs were sold last year, which represents a 12.5 percent decline. But keep in mind that these numbers make up only a small part of Mercedes's total volume––the brand plans to have electrified vehicles make up around 20 percent of its volume this year.
Image Credits: Mercedes
