AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/07 Report--

Kang Linsong, chairman of the Mercedes-Benz Group Board of Directors, said at the February shareholders' meeting that the company has adjusted its previously set target and no longer plans to fully switch to electric car sales in major markets by 2030. in addition, it is ready to produce fuel vehicles for a long time, while ensuring that it will continue to improve its fuel vehicles.

This statement of Kang Linsong has also attracted the attention of many people inside and outside the industry recently, and many media have speculated on whether Mercedes-Benz will give up electrification.

On March 6, in response to these rumors on the market, Mercedes-Benz officials said that Mercedes-Benz will continue to promote electric transformation in China, bringing customers a rich choice of luxury products. With a firm commitment to electrified transformation, new energy models are expected to account for up to 50% of Mercedes-Benz's new car sales by 2030. According to the official plan, the sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrid models will reach 50% by 2025, and each new model will be launched with an all-electric version; Mercedes-Benz will basically be converted to an all-electric model from 2030.

In fact, Mercedes-Benz's adjustment to electrification may have something to do with its lower-than-expected sales of new energy vehicles. Mercedes-Benz officials have said that China, the world's largest car market, will be at the center of the next-generation electric vehicle program that begins in 2025. According to the plan, Mercedes-Benz will launch or launch 15 new / new generation products in 2024, including new pure electric G-class off-road vehicles, new Maybach EQS pure electric SUV, new CLE family, new long wheelbase GLC SUV plug-in hybrid models, new long wheelbase E-class plug-in hybrid models and so on.

It is worth noting that although officials attach great importance to the Chinese market, sales of several of its electric models are mediocre in the Chinese market. At present, the new energy vehicles sold by Mercedes-Benz in China are EQC, EQB, EQA, EQE, EQE SUV and other models. Among them, the EQC is Mercedes-Benz's first pure electric model, launched on November 8, 2019, positioning medium-sized pure electric SUV, based on the fuel version of GLC, the price is 57.98-622800 yuan.

For the first model, officials had high hopes, but unfortunately, the model did not achieve the official expected results. The figures show that Mercedes-Benz EQC sold 258 vehicles in 2019. In order to reverse sales, officials also cut the price of the 2021 Mercedes-Benz EQC, which ranges from 49.98 yuan to 579800 yuan. However, the price has been lowered, and the sales of EQC still have not increased much. Mercedes-Benz EQCs sold 3303 vehicles in 2022.

After entering 2023, the sales of Mercedes-Benz EQC fell to 169. In addition, sales of the other models are not satisfactory, with data showing that the highest-selling Mercedes-Benz EQE sold 8471 vehicles last year, an average of about 700 a month, less than the one-month sales of the head car maker.

In this context, Mercedes-Benz will certainly adjust. As we all know, Mercedes-Benz, as the big brother of China's luxury car market, although it has a certain position in the fuel car market. But after turning to the new energy car track, Mercedes-Benz's electrification process obviously lags behind. Whether in terms of product strength or influence, Mercedes-Benz's position is far from what it used to be. Of course, the authorities understand this and are speeding up the layout of electrification. On March 5, Beijing Yi'an Qi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and BMW, officially settled in Chaoyang, Beijing, and the two sides will further expand the layout of super charging network in the Chinese market. to meet the growing demand for charging services from domestic customers.

However, with the return of domestic new energy vehicles to market-driven, a new round of new energy vehicle competition will also be more fierce, whether Mercedes-Benz can stand out in the follow-up electrification, this remains to be verified by time.

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