The A-class must not die – economy

Announcements by car bosses often provoke protests from environmentalists. But what Mercedes boss Ola Källenius recently announced could even appeal to traffic change advocates, at least at first impression: “We’re no longer chasing volume,” said Källenius, meaning: It’s totally okay if we as a car manufacturer in the future sell fewer vehicles. Less cars? At first glance, that sounds like a radical rethink. But it isn’t.

In fact, the plans are now becoming more concrete as to which cars will probably no longer be found in the Mercedes portfolio by 2025 at the latest: It will probably hit the compact cars of the A-Class and B-Class, like that Handelsblatt wants to have learned from corporate circles. The carmaker itself remains vague and only confirms that in the cheapest Mercedes segment, only four models will have a successor in the electric age instead of seven.

In the past four years, every fifth car sold with the star was still an A or B class, it’s about 400,000 vehicles per year. If Mercedes largely discontinues these models, they will finally be out of the race for the top-selling premium car manufacturer. There, Källenius predecessor Dieter Zetsche temporarily put the Swabians in the top position ahead of BMW – without the small compact models that would have been unthinkable.

But the possible end of the A-Class, which was once mocked by the unsuccessful moose test, but later also inspired many younger drivers for the brand thanks to the new design by Gorden Wagener, is unfortunately a trend that can be observed with many manufacturers: The smaller the vehicle, the greater the likelihood that it will be eliminated from the portfolio. This can be seen, for example, in Audi’s small car A1, but also in the VW up, which is in great demand as an electric car, but probably has no future.

From the point of view of the car manufacturers, especially the premium manufacturers like Mercedes, the path is initially consistent and plausible to concentrate on models that promise the highest profit margins. And these are mainly luxury cars and SUVs, which are often demonized, but are also being bought more and more every year. But in the long run, it may also prove to be a missed opportunity to largely withdraw from the small and compact car segment.

With all the recycling and efficiency records that Mercedes, Audi and BMW are constantly reporting for their luxury electric cars, there is still no answer to a central problem: How should there be more space in congested cities if there instead of small cars are there and driving more large (electric) luxury cars, which in most cases are significantly oversized for the needs of their drivers?

Small e-cars are still relatively unprofitable, but that should change

Of course, an electric S-Class is significantly less harmful to the climate than its petrol counterpart. But climate protection also has a social component and only has a real effect if the necessary products are available to the general public and are also affordable. If you take that seriously, it would also be the task of the German car manufacturers to put just as much money and engineering into the development of affordable, electric small and compact cars as into the individual scenting system or the vegan massage seat design in the luxury SUV. The A-Class in particular has turned many people into Mercedes customers who previously could not afford a car with the star. It would be an important signal if Mercedes had an affordable battery compact car in the pipeline in addition to an electric G-Class – preferably as soon as possible.

Small electric cars are still comparatively unprofitable because the batteries are so expensive. But that could change in a few years as technology advances at a rapid pace. In addition, standardized electric platforms could further reduce costs. Unfortunately, the strategy of the German premium manufacturers is: small electric cars – they should rather be built by foreign manufacturers.

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