Mercedes Will Launch 25 Cars This Year But Not The Cheapest One

Mercedes-Benz says that it will deliver 25 new and updated vehicles to dealerships over the course of 2024, noting that more affordable cars are due for updates or replacement and will, therefore, be among the brand's big sales drivers this year rather than the EVs that Affalterbach was trying to shift last year.

This could suggest that Mercedes is regretting its decision to cull three of the seven entry-level models it once offered, a decision that came when the automaker decided to pivot its focus to high-end luxury rather than trying to cater to everyone, but Mercedes says that its product cycles are the main cause for its imminent sales strategy shift. Basically, don't hold your breath for the return of the entry-level A-Class; the more affordable cars that Mercedes spokespeople were referring to when discussing the strategy with Automotive News at a dealer meeting last month were the likes of the facelifted E-Class, the new CLE, and the GLC in PHEV form.

Compared to the slow-selling EQS, those are all cheap entry-level cars.

The automaker's representatives also said that the Three-pointed Star will move away from its EV push in the US to instead increase its supply of combustion and hybrid vehicles. Clearly, EVs are not the golden egg layers automakers thought they were in the immediate wake of the pandemic, and now it's time to focus on the cars that people actually want to buy. This is a lesson that General Motors is learning, too.

Of course, the specifics of the dealer meeting were for the dealers' ears, but it appears that HQ has been listening to their complaints. Remember our comment about the EQS being a slow seller? That's a fact based on sales data, and dealers are hurting. They need cheaper cars to sell in order to stay profitable.

Given the outrageous markups these dealers enjoyed over the last four years or so, the average consumer won't feel much sympathy, but they can soon take advantage of new cars offered at a lower price point and, hopefully, with fewer inventory constraints.

«Mercedes is keeping touch with reality instead of trying to alter it,» remarked Edmunds Insights Director Ivan Drury. «The past year has shown that you can only fly