√Mercedes-Benz EQC to be axed in 2023

Mercedes-Benz may pull the plug on its first EQ electric vehicle next year, amid slowing sales, and the arrival of a new model.

Production of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQC electric vehicle (EV) may come to an end next May, according to a new overseas report.

German publication Business Insider (via CarBuzz) reports Mercedes-Benz dealers have been advised the final EQC mid-size electric SUVs will be built in May 2023, after about five years on sale.

Slow sales are attributed to the decision, with just 3825 examples sold in the car’s best sales year in Germany in 2021, or 1147 cars sold over the first half of 2022.

That compares to 6096 sales in December 2021 alone for Germany’s top-selling EV in 2021, the Tesla Model 3 – and 35,262 sales for the entire year, a tenth of the EQC’s annual sales.

Launched in 2019, the EQC was the first vehicle in Mercedes-Benz’s family of EQ electric cars – and its first series-production electric vehicle of the modern era (excluding the SLS Electric Drive supercar and B-Class Electric Drive hatchback of 2013).

Whereas newly-introduced EQ models – including the EQS and EQE sedans, and EQS SUV – are based on all-new, dedicated electric platforms, the original EQC was based on an adapted version of a conventional vehicle platform (dubbed MRA in Benz-speak). Indeed, the Mercedes-Benz EQC shares its core structure with the soon-to-be-replaced petrol and diesel GLC medium SUV.

The second-generation GLC is due in Australian showrooms early next year, riding on Mercedes-Benz’s newer MRA2 architecture – but there’s no sign of a new EQC on the horizon using the new car’s platform, in spy photos or industry rumours.

However, the popularity of the medium SUV segment globally means a successor to the EQC is inevitable – either on a petrol and diesel engine-capable platform, or a dedicated electric architecture such as EVA2, as used by the aforementioned EQE and EQS models.

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed plans to offer an electric version of every model it sells by 2025 – well within the upcoming, second-generation GLC’s life cycle, which isn’t due to be replaced by a third generation until 2030.

In Australia, just 760 examples of the Mercedes-Benz EQC have been reported as sold in the three-and-a-half years since 2019. For now, the model remains on sale in Australia.

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