Mercedes sets an earlier end date for combustion engines

A senior Mercedes official quoted  by Automotive News said  that there are new plans to almost completely eliminate internal combustion engines from 2030.

At the general shareholders’ meeting  in October 2020 Mercedes had announced that internal combustion engines will disappear from the offer in 2039 and by 2030 more than 50% of the models sold will be electric and PHEV. But it seems that the plans have changed. A senior Mercedes official quoted by Automotive News said that most internal combustion engines will be phased out from 2030, 9 years earlier.

“We are switching from EV first to EV only,” said the Mercedes official.

Sales of electric and PHEV models have already exceeded 10% of total sales in the first 6 months of 2021. 121,500 electric and PHEV models have been sold out of a total of 1,182,724 units. Of the 121,500 electrified models, 82,500 were PHEV and 39,000 electric models (19,000 Mercedes EQA, EQC, EQV and 20,000 smart models). In the short term, sales of PHEV models will increase as Mercedes now offers more and more PHEV versions including station wagons and coupes. But diesels PHEV will no longer be available in all markets after 2030.

In the medium term, however, the strong increase in sales of electric models is expected. The new Mercedes EQS opens a new era for luxury electric models but volumes will increase significantly only from 2024 when the new MMA platform for compact and medium models is launched.