Mercedes-Benz EQA launch delayed till next year
According to a British media report, the all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQA will not be launched this year as expected. Several different reasons have led to a delay of around six months.
According to an article from Autocar, the delays to the EQA launch are being caused by a restructuring of Mercedes’ production activities for electric cars, by continuing difficulties in the supply of battery cells and by interruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. These factors, in combination, mean that the EQA won’t be launched until next year. The sources for this information were not given in the report.
But the usually well-informed journalist Greg Kable can rely on substantial evidence: According to his information, the EQA was originally going to be presented in the third quarter of 2020, in time for the market launch before the end of the year. In other words, roughly the same as VW is doing with the ID.4 (world premiere 23.9., delivery from December 2020) or Citroën with the ë-Spacetourer. Opel has even let journalists drive the Zafira-e Life, but it will not be delivered until 2021. Daimler has not yet confirmed such an (online) event and the end of the quarter is approaching fast.
One of the factors that are said to have influenced the EQA plans is the planned sale of the Smart plant in Hambach, France. There, Daimler (already planned since 2017) wanted to build the EQB after the Smart production moved to the joint venture with Geely. Since July, however, talks have been underway with Ineos, which wants to build its Grenadier SUV in Hambach. The EQB is now to be built either together with the EQA in Rastatt or Kecskemét, Hungary. Since a decision has not yet been made (at least not publicly known), the Rastatt authorities are said to have delayed plans for the EQA.
Daimler has not yet responded to a request for comments from electrive. As soon as we receive a response, we will submit it here.
Mercedes gave an outlook on the EQA at the presentation of the compact SUV GLA in December 2019. The basic proportions with the long hood and the steeply sloping rear of the compact SUV including a quick transition will probably remain the same for the electric model. The EQB, on the other hand, will follow the much more angular design language of the GLB – but with similar technology.
According to Autocar, two versions of the EQA are planned to start with, one with an electric motor on the front axle and an all-wheel-drive model with two electric motors. Whether the two drive versions will use the same or different battery configurations has not yet been revealed. Autocar speculates about an AMG offshoot of the EQA, which is expected to outperform the recently introduced Mercedes AMG GLA 45 S with its 310 kW.
With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany
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