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Mercedes-Benz: Electric only will likely come later
One could describe what Mercedes-Benz customers are doing as "voting with their feet": They continue to primarily purchase combustion engines with the star emblem. And so, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius had to perform quite the rhetorical balancing act during the presentation of the annual financial report on Thursday. Apparently, the company was a bit too optimistic with its confident proclamations of "electric only," as customers are not following suit as expected. Consequently, the phrase "where market conditions permit," which was cautiously included even back then, becomes all the more important. It is quite possible that the phase-out of combustion engines could extend well into the 2030s, as Källenius predicts.
Nonetheless, the fundamental promise to offer electric vehicles that could make combustion engines redundant and to be completely climate-neutral by 2039 remains intact, even though Källenius notably spotlighted the new non-electric E-Class during the presentation. The deadline for the phase-out now seems to be more flexible, with Källenius referring to "tactical flexibility." It is indeed important to decarbonize, Källenius continued to hedge, but the EU's planned review of targets and paths in 2026 is a good thing. "Perhaps there was a bit too much optimism across the entire industry," the Mercedes chief remarked.
It is no secret that the margins on electric cars are lower than on combustion engines, as Mercedes-Benz CFO Harald Wilhelm also openly admits. Good for the current budget, from which the billions invested in e-mobility need to be financed. Now, there is talk of "up to 50 percent electric share" in the second half of the decade, generously including the ambivalent plug-in hybrids. The Stuttgart-based company has no commitment to a specific electric quota, even though archrival BMW has already announced its aim to have at least half of all vehicles sold be electric by 2030. The Swabians predict an electric share of 20 percent for the current year.
This is probably also due to the fact that growth in e-mobility is happening primarily in the less luxurious segments, where Chinese brands are strong. Mercedes lacks a full line-up of E-SUVs, ranging from the EQA, EQB, EQC, to the EQE SUV and EQS SUV, as well as expensive premium sedans like the EQE and EQS. What is missing is an electric compact model suitable for fleet use, similar to the CLA which was shown for the first time at the IAA. The electric C-Class is also sorely missed, but it is supposed to come, along with an E-GLC. Cautious forecasts suggest, however, that the company does not fully trust its own customers when it comes to transformation, despite the promised range of up to 700 kilometers for the CLA. Perhaps the vans will take the lead in the electric transition: After all, a new eSprinter was also presented, which is likely to be better received in the industry than the electric G-Class, whose target audience is not particularly climate-conscious. In any case, vans contributed significantly to the slightly weakening corporate results of 19.7 billion euros, with increased earnings rising to three billion euros.
Translated automatically from German.
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