Mercedes-Benz has to green-light the cutting costs strategy. In order to do that, they will cut jobs, contract their model and engine line up and will, most likely, drop the manual transmission.
Mercedes-Benz reveals its strategy for the car business. The main target of the company is growing profitability by reducing costs. The premium car maker is setting its priorities and considers dropping products that eat up resources without giving much back.
The manual transmission, that sparks little interest among the customers of the brand, might be the one to go as well. In the United States, it vanished from the company’s portofolio back in 2011, with the dismissing of the 6-speed gear box. Therefore it is only a matter of time until the measure applies to the European market. Markus Schaeffer, the head of the company’s Research and Development operations, confirms.
Less combustion engines, more electrified cars
Besides giving up on the manual transmission, marching on electrification and progressively dropping combustion engines will also be major steps. A new large EVA architecture, in development for 2021, together with the MMA platform for compact and medium sized cars will reduce costs for the research and development division.
The Mercedes-Benz EQS will be the first to get the new architecture. A high-performance battery pack, that will support a range of up to 700 kilometers, is also in the cards. The legendary G-Class will also go electric. It is part of the company’s plan to reach the target set for 2030. In 10-years’s time, 50% of global sales figures must be represented by electrified cars. Meanwhile, the combustion engine variants will drop by 70% by 2030. This will help Mercedes-Benz cut costs by 20% by 2025.
“We have refocused and are launching our new strategy. We intend to build the world’s most desirable cars. It’s about leveraging our strengths as a luxury brand to grow economic value and enhancing the mix and positioning of our product portofolio”, states Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, at a virtual investor and analyst conference.
