Recently, Mercedes-Benz announced that it would accelerate its electrification transformation and has determined the transformation plan for its European factories in the next few years.
Currently, Mercedes-Benz already has EQA, EQB, EQC, EQE, and EQS covering almost all mainstream products of Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz stated that the next transformation plan will start with MPVs and vans, and will only launch pure electric versions of vans in 5 years.
According to Mercedes-Benz, the upcoming pure electric van models will include EQV, pure electric eVITO, and EQT, which are pure electric versions developed based on the existing models.
In the domestic market, Mercedes-Benz V-Class MPVs and Vitos are both manufactured by Fujian Benz. Mercedes-Benz has not yet confirmed whether EQV and pure electric Vito will still be produced by Fujian Benz after being introduced into the domestic market.
In addition to these two models, Mercedes-Benz has previously announced that the pure electric eSprinter will be developed by the EVP pure electric platform. In the second half of next year, pure electric eSprinter will be produced in three factories located in Dusseldorf, Ludwigsfelde, and Ladson/North Charleston, South Carolina.
At the same time, by 2025, Mercedes-Benz will provide a new generation of pure electric platforms, VAN.EA platform (MB Vans Electric Architecture), and Rivian Light Van (RLV) platform for medium and large vans. The latter will be jointly developed with the US pure electric SUV company Rivian.
In the domestic market, pure electric MPVs are in a rapid growth stage, and the Voyah Dreamer, the DENZA D9, and the Zeekr 009 are all rapidly occupying the market. Recently, Volkswagen also brought its pure electric MPV-ID.Buzz into China to test how Chinese consumers feel about this car.
In the gasoline car market, Volkswagen Multivan and Mercedes V-Class have always been competitors for old brands; in the electrified era, Volkswagen ID.Buzz has already fired the first shot, with both passenger and cargo versions, plus the T7 plug-in hybrid available overseas. Mercedes, on the other hand, has no more action, and the current V-Class is still on sale. If Mercedes wants to continue to grab market share, it needs to make more efforts.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.