Mercedes bets big on EVs to touch pre-pandemic sales level

Mercedes-Benz has set a goal to sell around 3,50,000 vehicles in the United States next year. Within this sales figure, Mercedes-Benz wants electric vehicles to constitute around 45,000 units. The premium carmaker is also hoping that proportion of electric vehicles to grow so much so that by end of the decade, half of its sales figure be EVs.

In 2019, Mercedes sold 3,57,729 vehicles in the US. This number also included sales of commercial vehicles. In the following years, due to the pandemic, the luxury automaker sold 3,24,70 in 2020 and 3,29,665 in 2021. According to a report by InsideEVs, even though the sales were down, the market share of Mercedes-Benz grew from 2.07 per cent in 2019 to 2.20 per cent in 2021.

Mercedes is offering its all-electric EQE and EQS in sedan and SUV versions in the United States. It is being expected that the fully-electric Mercedes EQE which is scheduled to be launched next year might attract a significant chunk of the US market as it promises to offer a lot to prospective luxury EV buyers. The Mercedes EQE sits under the EQS sedan and features an intuitive cockpit that comes with the MBUX Hyperscreen. The touch display extends to the entire width and can be controlled by a few gestures.

Mercedes has also planned to bring in its EQB model and Maybach-badged versions of the EQS sedan and SUV. A recent report stated that Mercedes-Benz is planning to bring an entry-level electric vehicle architecture in 2024. It will be named Mercedes Modular Architecture (MMA). Mercedes-Benz's Chief Technology Officer Markus Schafer said that the electric vehicles based on the new EV architecture will replace existing compact cars from the brand.