Mercedes-Benz (and every other manufacturer) is sharply focused on the EV segment these days so with all of these new models on the way, they will need to do some leaning out of model variants.
They are still committed to offering coupe and cabriolet models in the future, according to chief operating officer Markus Schafer, but will trim back and refocus its line-up of such machines.
The all-new C-Class was revealed yesterday which in the past has been followed by a Coupé and Cabriolet variant further down the line. This might not be the case moving forward as they need to to rationalise and focus on higher-volume machines.
“We reached a portfolio of close to 50 vehicles last year, and there’s more to come on the electric side with our EQ line-up,” said Schafer while talking to Autocar. “We have some limitations in terms of what we can do in research and development.
“Some of [our models] got quite narrow [in terms of market] so we want to really focus on a portfolio that’s more precise and consumer-oriented. So we’re doing some significant shifts in our line-up, portfolio and shape of vehicles.
“We have a very high density on the coupe and cabriolet side with the C-Class, E-Class and SLC. It’s a wide offering and the market is going in a different direction. That’s why we’re shifting: we’re going to continue with coupes and cabriolets in the future but in a different form and shape.
“We will not give up the segment because it’s very important to use as a brand-shaper, but maybe in a more limited offering.”