Wen\Wei WuXian
The position of Mercedes-Benz in the domestic market is unquestionable, whether it is sales or brand premium ability, it belongs to the boss in BBA. However, in terms of product quality, Mercedes-Benz has shown itself to be more crotch-pulling in recent years, and negative evaluations continue to appear. As a blockbuster model of Mercedes-Benz New Energy, Mercedes-Benz EQC is also frequently problematic at present.
According to the news, recently 8 Mercedes-Benz EQC owners issued a joint statement on the EQC large-scale motor failure, the owner said that the vehicle has 1 or more motor failures, and Mercedes-Benz EQC motor failure 1-2 months before the occurrence, after the vehicle starts the central control screen prompt "fill coolant" specifications, after opening the front hatch, the coolant is significantly reduced.
However, the added coolant continued to penetrate into the motor, eventually causing the motor to fail and preventing the vehicle from starting properly. At the time of maintenance, because the motor is imported from Germany, the maintenance time is very long, even exceeding the maximum repair time limit of the national warranty. At the same time, some car owners believe that 4S refuses to issue detailed work orders, motor failure reports, and replace the reasons for the motor, perhaps because Mercedes-Benz deliberately conceals the truth of the problem and denies that there are defects in the product design.
In fact, the frequent occurrence of Product Problems in Mercedes-Benz in recent years is not a new thing, and Mercedes-Benz EQC has already implemented two recalls, once because of the lack of tightness of the condensing tube of the air conditioner, and once because of the possibility of steering system failure. At the same time, EQC has also been exposed to problems such as the failure of the central control screen display and the air conditioning system.
In terms of actual sales, the performance of Mercedes-Benz EQC is actually not recognized, its listing in November 2019, priced at 49.98-57.98 million yuan, while the comprehensive cruising range of NEDC is only 415km, and the sales volume in 2021 is only more than 6,000 vehicles. As an oil-to-electricity model, Mercedes-Benz's frequent product problems have also made consumers hesitate. Although there is a century-old accumulation of fuel vehicle manufacturing, it is obviously not too outstanding in new energy vehicles, especially the reputation and actual performance of EQC are not satisfactory.
On the one hand, this stems from the decline of Mercedes-Benz's own control of product quality and product reliability, including various size problems and recalls, on the other hand, it is related to the brand image of Mercedes-Benz, especially after encountering many negative product events, Mercedes-Benz's "shop bully" hegemony has made many new generations of consumers stay away.
Sales data show that Mercedes-Benz delivered 758,800 vehicles in China in 2021, down about 2% year-on-year, while many of its fist models also showed a downward sales trend. For example, Mercedes-Benz E sales in 2021 were only more than 141,000 units, down 9.3% year-on-year, Mercedes-Benz C sales in 2021 were more than 130,000 units, down 14.8% year-on-year, and Mercedes-Benz GLC sales in 2021 were more than 135,000 units, down 17.7% year-on-year.
Previously, Duan Jianjun, chief operating officer of Sales and Marketing of Beijing Benz, said that in 2022, Mercedes-Benz's "proportion of new energy model sales will continue to expand", but frequent product problems may also add a lot of uncertainty to its realization of this goal.
Write at the end:
Although Mercedes-Benz has also taken the transformation to "full electric" as a corporate goal, from the current performance, Mercedes-Benz does not have a position comparable to its position in the fuel vehicle market, whether it is a product or a brand, and now it has also exposed the problem of the collective "statement" complaints of car owners, which has cast a shadow on its electrification transformation.
(This article is originally produced by the editorial department of [Auto Industry] New Media, the author of this article is Wei Wuxian, and the reprint should indicate the source)