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A few days ago, the German Mercedes-Benz Group announced that it plans to jointly invest more than 14 billion yuan with Chinese partners in China to further enrich the lineup of localized products for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, and continue to accelerate technological innovation and the landing of heavyweight products in China. Mercedes-Benz Group said in a press release that from 2025, Mercedes-Benz will successively put into production China's new pure electric long wheelbase version of CLA, new GLE SUV long wheelbase version and new luxury pure electric MPV based on VAN.EA platform. Among them, the long wheelbase GLE SUV will be developed by the Chinese team for the first time, which also means that its intelligent and technological performance will be better than the existing models.

GLE, a medium-and large-sized SUV owned by Mercedes-Benz, launched the fourth-generation model in 2018 and the fourth-generation mid-term model in 2023. The price in the Chinese market is 69.98-889800 yuan, including 48V light hybrid and plug-in hybrid version. The price is 69.98-889800 yuan. In terms of power, the GLE 350is equipped with an M2542.0T four-cylinder engine + 48V light hybrid, with a maximum power of 258hp and a peak torque of 400Nm, matching the 9AT gearbox. The GLE 400 is equipped with an M256 2.5T in-line six-cylinder engine + 48V light hybrid, with a maximum power of 367hp and a peak torque of 500Nm, matching the 9AT gearbox. The GLE 400e is equipped with a 2.0T plug-in hybrid system with a total power of 280kW and a peak torque of 650Nm. Under WLTC conditions, the pure electric mileage is 100km, 60 kilowatts, DC charging 20 minutes from 10% charge to 80% charge 0-100km/h acceleration of 6.5 seconds.

As a medium and large SUV of Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz GLE is introduced into the Chinese market in the form of imports, and its main competitors are BMW X5 and Audi Q7. Among them, the BMW X5, which was officially made in China in April 2022, is the only domestic model in the BBA medium-and large-scale SUV, and will be redesigned in August 2023 at a price of 61.5-800000 yuan. The biggest difference between the domestic BMW X5 made by brilliance and the imported BMW X5 is that it is lengthened on the basis of imported models, with a length, width and height of 5060 mm 2004 mm 1768 (1776) mm, wheelbase 3105mm, and its wheelbase even reaches the level of the imported BMW X7. In terms of power, the xDrive30Li is powered by a 2.0T four-cylinder engine (B48B20G) provided by BMW brilliance, with a maximum power of 272 horsepower. The xDrive40Li is equipped with a 3.0T in-line six-cylinder engine (B58B30C) provided by BMW, Germany, with a maximum power of 370hp. In terms of transmission system, they all match 8-speed manual self-integrated gearbox.

After BMW X5 is made in China, it has become one of the best-selling models in BMW China. Retail data show that the BMW X5 sold 53900 vehicles in China from January to July 2024, ranking third among BMW brands, second only to the BMW 3-Series and BMW X3. At the same time, the BMW X5 completely beat its competitors in sales, with Audi Q7 sales of 5400 and Mercedes-Benz GLE of 14300 at the same time.

At present, there is little information about the new domestic long-wheelbase version of GLE, but what is certain is that this model will be led by Mercedes-Benz's Chinese team, which also means that it will perform better in intelligence and technology than existing models. In 2022, BMW took the lead in the domestic BMW X5, lengthened the wheelbase, and further reduced the price, thus successfully dominating the market of large and medium-sized SUV in BBA, bringing huge profits to itself at the last peak of fuel vehicles, but now the luxury medium and large SUV market has been rampant and is dominated by domestic brands, such as M7, ideal L7/L8, and so on. Now Mercedes-Benz GLE thinks of introducing domestic products. And according to the development cycle, the official launch time may be two years later, is it already a little late? Will it be recognized by the market at that time?

In addition to the domestic new generation GLE long wheelbase version, the new CLA pure electric long wheelbase version will also be produced by Beijing Mercedes-Benz. At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz officially unveiled its new CLA concept car, which will be launched in 2024, when it will be the first model built by the MMA architecture.

Kang Linsong, chairman of Mercedes-Benz Group, said: "the Chinese market is not only one of the important pillars of Mercedes-Benz Group's global strategy, but also an important driving force for electric transformation and scientific and technological innovation. Mercedes-Benz is committed to long-term investment in China, deeply participate in and contribute to the upgrading of China's automobile industry, and continuously enhance Mercedes-Benz's competitiveness in China and the world while constantly exceeding the expectations of Chinese customers."

According to sales figures released by Mercedes-Benz Group, total global sales of Mercedes-Benz in the first half of 2024 were 1.168 million vehicles, down 6 per cent from a year earlier. Among them, sales in China were 341500, down 9% from the same period last year, which is much higher than in Europe and North America. Horizontally, BBA sales in China declined in the first half of the year, but Mercedes-Benz's sales fell the most. BMW fell 4.3% from a year earlier and Audi fell 2% from a year earlier.

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