Mercedes’ chief designer, Gorden Wagener, explains why the Mercedes EQS has failed to establish itself on the market.
After more than three years of sales falling well below Mercedes’ expectations, Chief Designer Gorden Wagener offers some explanations. He believes the Mercedes EQS market positioning was not right.
The Mercedes EQS was marketed as the electric alternative to the S-Class. However, Wagener believes that some customers expected the EQS to offer significantly better features than a chauffeur-driven limousine—a quality that has defined the classic S-Class for generations.
Referring to the design, Wagener says the Mercedes EQS was not originally designed as a chauffeur-driven limousine. The car’s proportions are different from those of such a limousine, which typically includes “a long hood and status.” From this perspective, the EQS is completely different from the S-Class.
Gorden Wagener considers the Mercedes EQS to be an avant-garde car that debuted ten years ahead of its time.
Since it wasn’t designed as a “chauffeur-driven limousine,” Wagener believes the EQS should have been positioned more like a successor to the CLS or as an S-Class coupe.
Indeed, the Mercedes EQS was designed primarily for optimal aerodynamics. This led to a streamlined design, resulting in proportions that were very different from those of an S-Class. Additionally, this aerodynamic design affected a key feature of what Wagener refers to as a “chauffeur-driven limousine”—rear headroom.
On the other hand, the aerodynamic design also brought advantages. The Mercedes EQS has relatively low energy consumption at highway speeds, thanks to its excellent aerodynamics.
It also impresses with its assistance systems, being one of the few cars in the world to offer Level 3 autonomous driving.
And although the platform uses only 400V technology, it still charges relatively quickly with decent charging power.
However, Mercedes has decided to abandon this streamlined design approach as well as the “EQ” label in the model name. The future EQS will, in fact, be an S-Class with EQ technology, similar to BMW’s approach with the i7/7 Series. This philosophy will also apply to future models like the C-Class EV and GLC EV.
