In most people's cognition, Mercedes-Benz is the inventor of the car, but also the leader and vane of automotive technology.
Under the surging wave of global automotive electrification, compared with many multinational car companies actively embracing the future with innovative technologies, Mercedes-Benz has shown an old look.
In July last year, Mercedes-Benz officially announced that its corporate strategy was transformed from "electric first" to "fully electric", with the goal of providing pure electric models for all market segments in 2022, and by 2025, the sales volume of pure electric vehicle models and plug-in hybrid models would reach 50%. In addition, between 2022 and 2030, Mercedes-Benz will invest more than 40 billion euros in pure electric models.
Four months after the release of the strategy, Mercedes-Benz quickly launched two pure electric SUV models, EQB and EQA, plus the previously listed EQC, Mercedes-Benz and Audi "flush" - becoming a luxury brand with three domestic pure electric SUVs.
The purpose of Mercedes-Benz's "action" is obvious, relying on the strong influence of the Mercedes-Benz brand, as well as the lowest cost and shortest development cycle of "oil to electricity" models, to achieve a breakthrough in the new energy market.
The ideal is very full, the reality is very bone. In the first quarter, the cumulative sales of Mercedes-Benz's three pure electric SUVs were only 2808 units, of which EQC sales fell by more than 37% year-on-year. Of course, the reason for the dilemma of EQC, including EQB and EQA sales, is the collapse of the reputation of Mercedes-Benz's "oil to electricity" products.
Entering 2022, hundreds of Mercedes-Benz EQC car owners have issued three statements in a row to protect their rights, they believe that the problem of EQC motor failure occurs frequently, and some car owners still have failure problems after replacing the motor, there are major safety hazards, and this is the design defect of Mercedes-Benz's "oil to electricity" vehicle.
In the face of EQC frequent motor failure problems, some car owners "calmly" said that the motor is broken is normal, this is the experience of many people, EQC three electric system is very crotch, the warranty is also very crotch. Some car owners helplessly said: the car has been placed in the 4S shop for 1 month, it cannot be started, the coolant leakage leads to the need to replace the electric motor, and it is a little difficult to protect the rights!
EQC problems occur frequently, and the main reason is caused by "oil to electricity". The so-called oil to electricity is to replace the engine, fuel tank and other components into batteries, motors and electronic control systems without changing the structure of fuel vehicles, and then "transform" into a new energy model. However, there are great safety hazards in the "oil to electricity" model, the first of which is the poor battery safety protection, once subjected to external forces, the probability of spontaneous combustion is high. In addition, because it is a fuel vehicle framework, the adapted motor and electronic control system will be limited, and good stability cannot be guaranteed.
Industry insiders said that the "oil to electricity" model will be stuffed with more batteries as much as possible to increase the endurance, and then the battery will be designed into a special shape, plus the "oil to electricity" model thermal management technology is not in place, it is easy to "spontaneous combustion". He further said that in the past two years, electric vehicles spontaneous combustion occurred frequently, mainly oil to electric models, and now the probability of spontaneous combustion of pure electric models of the new electric platform is very small.
Mercedes-Benz hastily launched the "oil to electricity" model, on the one hand, to show the car inventor's positive attitude towards electrification, on the other hand, it wants to fill in the "double points" of Beijing Mercedes-Benz's negative score through pure electric vehicle models.
Consumers' distrust of Mercedes-Benz's "oil to electricity" trend is becoming more and more obvious, and Mercedes-Benz is also quietly replacing the new energy "track".
Not long ago, Duan Jianjun, chief operating officer of sales and marketing of Beijing Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd., said in an interview that whether it is energy conservation and emission reduction, or for meeting the compliance of the national double point policy, PHEV models will also play a very important role for a long time, and PHEV models are of great help to Beijing Benz.
Just last month, the "secondary revamp" of the Mercedes-Benz E 350e L, which was remodeled by Beijing Benz, was listed. The reason why it is called a second iteration is because in November 2021, the redesigned E 350e L has just been launched, but the sales are not satisfactory. The "second modification" is to shorten the pure electric mileage, the price is lowered, and the terminal preferential treatment is further increased.
For example, at present, the E 350e L terminal is discounted by nearly 50,000 yuan, and the actual price is about 470,000 yuan. Under this strategy, the sales volume of the E 350e L in the first quarter achieved a "counter-overtake" of BMW's 5 Series new energy. In 2021, Mercedes-Benz E-class new energy has sold more than 7,900 vehicles, while BMW 5 Series new energy has exceeded 23,000 units.
Also as an oil-to-electricity model, BMW's iX3 sales are completely crushing to the EQC - only 6,098 EQC units were sold in 2021, but the iX3 sold more than 22,000 units; and in the first quarter of this year, iX3 sales reached 5.4 times that of EQC. Obviously, in the field of new energy, compared with BMW, Mercedes-Benz seems to be a bit out of hand.
However, Mercedes-Benz also said that in 2022, it will launch 8 pure electric and plug-in hybrid models to the Chinese market, including plug-in hybrid versions of C-class cars, S-class cars and other models. Of course, for Mercedes-Benz, the focus and core lies in the domestic model, from the planning point of view, the most anticipated and most popular vehicle for Mercedes-Benz in 2022 may be Mercedes-Benz's C-class plug-in hybrid model.
Of course, Mercedes-Benz is not without technology, like the EQS, which was launched on the new EVA electric platform at the beginning of this year, but from the published parameters, such as endurance, charging efficiency and other aspects, there is no special highlight.
At present, a worse situation for Mercedes-Benz and BMW Audi in the Chinese market is that the new forces have gradually gained a foothold in their most important market range of about 400,000-500,000 yuan. Behind the foothold, it is not simply the new forces' product strength, but also consumers' perception of "car brands" has been gradually broken - they are slowly losing interest in traditional luxury brands.
In 2022, the competition for electrification products in the Chinese market will be more intense, in addition to the new forces in the field of pure electric is getting stronger, Chinese brand traditional car companies have also begun to further strengthen the layout of new energy products, and are high-end products.
For traditional luxury brands, the Chinese auto market is changing at a "geometric" pace. And Mercedes-Benz, which is IP in luxury brands, how it will deal with the Chinese market in 2022 is very worthy of attention.
Note: Images are from the Web