Hello Kaellenius, President of Daimler AG, takes part in the presentation of the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class at the Daimler production plant in Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart, Germany, 2 September 2020. REUTERS / Ralph Orlowski
Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) on Thursday unveiled the electric “brother” of its luxury sedan Mercedes-Benz S-Class, taking the fight against market leader Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) in the fight for market share as the electric car sales take off.
EQS is the first in a family of Mercedes-Benz cars built on a dedicated platform for electric vehicles built from the ground up. It will go on sale in Europe and the United States in August, then in China in January.
Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the European Union nearly tripled to more than 1 million vehicles last year, accounting for more than 10% of total sales.
“We set the bar very high,” with this car, Daimler CEO Ola Källenius told reporters. “Customers in this segment expect a mix of hi-tech innovation and modern luxury … and that’s what we’re trying to do with EQS.”
Daimler has not yet revealed the prices for EQS, saying it will come closer to the launch date in the summer.
Thursday, in interviews and conferences, Källenius
avoided making any comparisons with Tesla, whose market capacity of over $ 700 billion hinders all other carmakers.
But with a range of up to 770 kilometers (478 miles) and a new display screen that will cover almost the entire dashboard – an optional feature – analysts see an effort to take advantage of Tesla’s initiative, which had an edge over other car manufacturers and boasts greater battery life and a touch screen infotainment system.
In a customer note earlier this week, Deutsche Bank referred to EQS as “Mercedes’ Tesla fighter” and said the car “will likely set the benchmark in terms of technical features as well as design and quality.” for traditional participating new car manufacturers such as Tesla.
Källenius said he expects more than 50% of customers to pay extra to get the screen, which Mercedes-Benz unveiled in January.
At 56 inches (142 cm), the new “Hyperscreen” – which, in width, clogs the praised 17-inch screen of Tesla – will also appear in the other new electric models of Mercedes-Benz.
Källenius said the company will not provide forecasts for how many EQS models it intends to sell or what kind of profit margin it expects the vehicle to generate.
However, he said he has high expectations for the Chinese market, where there is “extraordinary demand” for the traditional S-Class combustion engine model.
Daimler is now joining rival Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) with a dedicated electric platform. BMW (BMWG.DE) will launch a dedicated platform in 2025.
Mercedes sales chief Britta Seeger said the launch of EQS coincides with demand for electric vehicles, which is growing faster than company executives once predicted.
“We thought by 2030 that half of our sales would be electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles,” Seeger told a conference. “What we see now … is a stronger customer demand for electric vehicles. We are even more sure that this jump can be a little faster. ”
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