Mercedes refreshes China model range with billion-euro investment

Mercedes-Benz will invest 1.8 billion euros with its Chinese joint venture partner BAIC to offer new models or variants in China. That includes, but is not limited to, electric cars.

The investment in China is part of Mercedes’s larger investment plan for this year, totalling 14 billion euros. The largest part of the investment will be used to produce new models, although some of these are already familiar model series.

The most important announcement from an electric mobility perspective is that the new generation of the CLA will also be built in Beijing from 2025. Mercedes currently offers a long-wheelbase version of the A-Class saloon as a compact model for China, and the CLA will take over that role. The new generation, presented as a study at the IAA Mobility 2023, is based on the MMA mixed platform and will be built in Beijing with either an electric drive or a petrol engine. European production will take place in Rastatt, Germany.

There could also be an electric variant of the V-Class MPV in China. The electric van built in Spain is marketed as the EQV in Europe. However, it is not yet known whether the model will be sold in China under this abbreviation or (as with the electric G-Class) as the ‘V 300e with EQ technology.’ There is a demand for electric luxury vans in China, which the Geely brands Zeekr with the 009 and Volvo with the EM90, which is only available in China, serve.

Beijing Benz Automotive (BBAC) has built Mercedes cars for China since 2005, including some electric models. The EQC, which has since been discontinued, was built there for China, and the EQA, EQB, EQE and EQE SUV are currently being produced there for the local market. There are also several combustion-powered saloons and SUVs, most of which are China-specific long-wheelbase versions that are not available in Europe.

However, this model mix of imported and locally manufactured saloons and SUVs has recently been less popular with Chinese customers. In terms of sales after seven months (416,000 vehicles), Mercedes is nine per cent down on the previous year. However, this is not only due to the partially misguided model policy (the EQS e-hopeful was a flop in China) but also to the prices: Mercedes is not fully participating in the current price war in China to protect its image as a premium brand – which is of course at the expense of sales.

carnewschina.com