Mercedes is now seriously considering axing the first model of the EQ lineup. The EQC saw the light of day back in 2018. The career of this generation on the electric crossovers stage should be over, according to reports, by 2023.
According to a letter sighted by Business Insider, the premium carmaker has already announced its sales partners that the EQC production will end on May 3rd, 2023. That would be within less than a year from now. The Mercedes kahunas have to resort to this radical move following slow sales. Only 3,825 customers ordered an EQC in its home market, Germany, last year. And it still was the model’s best year so far. With low figures like these, the Mercedes EQC still outpaces rivals such as the Audi e-tron and the Jaguar I-Pace.
The EQC is not available in the United States. A report from Automotive News though showed, back in 2021, that the model would hit American soil by 2025. Which is now unlikely to happen. It remains to be seen if a possible next generation would be in the cards for the market between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
But the future of the Mercedes EQC is a massive dilemma for the Mercedes executives. With the upcoming MB.EA architecture, due not before 2025 and specifically designed for medium to large models, and with the EQC production coming to a halt in 2023, the future of the model is in question. The current EQC, as well as Audi’s e-tron, are using platforms specifically designed for combustion engines. Meanwhile, the EQA and the EQB also roll off the assembly line with the same MFA2 architecture as their ICE-powered siblings.
Mercedes is constantly bringing high-riders in its EQ lineup. The EQS SUV is the first of them. Meanwhile, the EQE SUV has been playing hide and seek with the carpazzi on public roads in Germany, as long as at the Nurburgring.