Mercedes-Benz has not been shy about building EVs. It leapt into the fray in 2019 and has been working to expand its lineup ever since. Now, though, it appears the Germans have had second thoughts. Mercedes-Benz has halted EV sales in the US, making the move so quietly that you might not have even noticed.
Jump back just a few years, and electricity was the future. Multiple automakers were making broad statements that their lineups would go all-electric within years, while ending development of internal combustion engines and phasing out fossil-fueled models. Unfortunately, the expected spike of consumer demand for EVs didn’t eventuate quite how these automakers had predicted, and many have had to do an about-face to realign their lineups to what their customers actually want to buy.
As covered by Automotive News, Mercedes-Benz may be making moves in that very direction. The company has stopped taking orders for the electric EQS and EQE, including both sedan and SUV models. It will also cease production of these vehicles for the US market. In a statement, a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson indicated that “current market conditions” were behind the decision, without providing a timeline for orders or production to resume.
Mercedes-Benz currently produces the SUV versions of the EQS and EQE at its plant in Vance, Alabama. Production of these models for US sale will shut down on September 1. However, production for global sale will continue past this date, alongside the ICE-powered GLE and GLS models. The company will have the benefit of a tariff exemption for models exported to the EU, thanks to a recent trade deal between the US and the European Union.
Of course, it’s also important to discuss the company’s other EV, the EQB. As reported by Kelley Blue Book, it’s also on the chopping block. A company spokesperson stated that the model “has reached the end of its lifecycle as planned and therefore will not be offered in the U.S. or Canada after model year 2025.”
The brand’s EV sales have been struggling amidst tough conditions in the EV market. A dip in consumer demand has become apparent ahead of the pending loss of the federal EV tax credit. Perhaps the only real surprise is that things have gotten bad enough for Mercedes-Benz to take the step of actually shutting the order books, even if it proves to be only a temporary measure.
Sales-wise, Automotive News estimates that the company sold just 2,318 units of the EQS SUV in the first half of this year, and 4,676 units of the EQE crossover. Those numbers are down 32 percent and 35 percent respectively, compared to the same period in 2024. Particularly sad figures given that Mercedes-Benz had already tried sweetening the deal with major discounts earlier this year, though most of the discounts were focused around the sedan lineup.
The halt on orders may be a short one, or it may extend longer. In any case, it shows that Mercedes-Benz does not believe it is missing much by effectively removing these models from sale for a time. Few automakers have found EV sales to be as strong as they’d like in recent years, but it’s another thing entirely to see an automaker effectively leaving the segment entirely, even if it’s only for a limited period. Expect the tumult to continue until EV automakers and consumers find a happy meeting point when it comes to supply and demand.
Top graphic images: Mercedes-Benz; Ashland Conveyor
I actually liked the styling on them, but I also like the 1996 to 1999 Taurus. Depending on how reliable the drivetrains are and how the batteries degrade over time, I could see myself getting an EQE without the hyperscreen one day.
No surprise here. Most manufacturers anticipated continued government support and meaningful consumer uptake. Since neither have happened, it’s reasonable to see a pivot to more profitable products.
The problem with the EQE is that you can’t see out the back of it.
Word on the street is not so much that Mercedes cannot make a quality EV. Prices are high, but EQS build quality is said to be pretty bad. I think that has a lot to do with the sale slump as well.
Cut the EV range in half and add a EREV style drivetrain and presto, problem solved. Funny how Toyota was the old man yelling at the clouds by not going all in on the EV train, and now they can’t build the RAV4 prime fast enough.
Meanwhile they’ve been all in on hydrogen. How’s that been working out?
It’s unfortunate but I’m not that surprised.
It seems that Mercedes did more corner cutting than usual with the EQS… the kind of corner cutting you wouldn’t even see on an entry level Hyundai.
Check out this video where Hoovie and The Car Wizard go over the quality issues the EQS has:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSGSwaoM5yE
In terms of style, I actually like the EQS. And I like that it’s a hatchback. But after seeing that video on it from Hoovie, it seems it has a little too much “German quality” where they charge top-dollar for what is in some ways a bottom-dollar design.
And from what I’ve read, these are also being cancelled because Mercedes is changing their BEV strategy… which includes ditching the whole EQ sub-model range.
They are simultaneously hideous and bland. I’m not surprised. The dashes make my eyes bleed.
A tough balance to strike, yet they did it!
Exactly what a came here to say.
Actually they made their first US-market EV for the 2014 model year! They converted the EU-only B-Class to electric and no one bought it.
The resale value on at least the EQS is abysmal. They are in a situation of either they can’t find people to buy an uncompetitive car with over $100,000 MSRP that depreciates over 65% in 3 years, or they can’t lease them at a profit because the depreciation is so bad. It’s no win situation for them. If you don’t mind how bad they look, a 2-3 year old EQS probably isn’t a bad buy at the $35,000 they are going for now, if the insurance costs aren’t crazy.
“ if the insurance costs aren’t crazy.”
Always get an insurance quote before buying a car.
Doing that caused me to not buy a Tesla Model S and get a Ford C-Max instead as it was CAD$4500/year for insurance vs CAD$1500/year.
This was before Elon completely lost it… so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Cross shopping a Tesla Model S and Ford C-Max seems sort of odd.
Only “sort of”?
I guess cross shopping a Polaris Slingshot with a Ford F-350 might be more odd.
From a practicality point of view for the use as a daily driver, both the Model S and C-Max are efficient 4 door hatchbacks.
So comparing them is nothing like comparing a slingshot to an F350.
Maybe I’m missing something here. Was this comparison from 2013 or something? Because why would you not look at the Model 3 or Y instead of the S if you were looking for something efficient?
I was doing this in the summer of 2024.
The C-Max and Model S in question was a 2014 Model S 85 RWD I was looking at listed at CAD$18500. The 2017 C-Max Energi Titanium I bought was selling for CAD$16,500.
So this was before the ‘Elon lost his mind completely’ times and before the political backlash against him and Tesla
Model 3 has too small of a trunk for my purposes.
And the Model Y was too new/expensive on the used market at the time and thus, was outside my budget of CAD$40,000.
Another factor… I simply like the look and style of the Model S far more than the Y.
And as far as efficiency goes, the difference between the Y and the S is negligible in the greater scheme of things.
Also, my criteria was that I merely wanted something that was as efficient or more efficient than the manual 2008 Honda Fit I was replacing.
OK, that helps my understanding, but it still seems like there would have been quite few hybrid choices, not to mention a few EV alternatives that would not have looked quite so divergent as these two. But then again, I haven’t shopped for EVs or hybrids so my expectations may be far from the realities, especially in the current auto market weirdness.
Hope you are enjoying the C-Max!
Not really. My requirements were “4 door hatchback or wagon, with at least 20 cu ft of trunk space with the seats up and at least as efficient as my manual 2008 Honda Fit, but preferably more efficient”. And in terms of spend, I was prepared to spend up to CAD$40,000.
Both the C-Max and Model S are 4 door hatchbacks that are fuel efficient/energy efficient that meet my daily driving needs in terms of space and practicality.
Sure the Model S has waaaay better performance, but the level of performance the C-Max has (or even a Prius for that matter) is more than enough for daily driving.
C-Max has a huge driving range advantage.
In terms of price, they were similar. The 2014 Model S RWD I was looking at listed at CAD$18500. The 2017 C-Max I bought was selling for CAD$16,500.
So you’d think cross shopping a C-Max to a Model S is an unlikely thing… but based on my criteria, it’s not.
The market segments that marketing people like to talk about aren’t as firm or clear cut as marketing people would have you believe.
To me, “SUVs” and “CUVs” are all just hatchbacks and/or wagons… just a bit less efficient.
Ok, I see that. My grandfather used a Corvair and an early 1960s Mercedes diesel interchangeably with pickups on the farm. Taking the trunk lid off the corvair and having a cargo a bed in the front full of shovels wasn’t too bad at low speeds. The dog loved it.
I can see that cross shop. I found a C-max Energi to be one of the most comfortable cars I have ever driven, with seats that were much better then the ones in a Tesla S.
The seats on the Model S varied by year. The really early ones were ‘okay’.
And they went through a few generations before they became really good by 2016 or 2017 which is when Tesla took the seat design and manufacturing in-house.
Yeah its completely wild to see the depreciation on these guys
What about the e-Sprinter?
Out of curiosity and the boredom that comes from a delayed flight, I did some EV road trip planning for an 850-mile drive I have coming up later this summer. A used EQS sedan can be had for around $35k and would have made an attractive option for the trip. The look isn’t good, and the interior is the standard MB tackiness, but a 350-mile range with good fast charging ability is nice for the price.
I have no real desire for an EV, but I don’t think the MB models were below average as far as EVs go.
They are so freaking hideous.
I like the look of the Lucid, but I don’t think that any of the other EVs are anything I want to look at either.
This is where BMW did a decent job. The i4/i5/i7 look decent.
I will never abide the pig snout BMWs.
All I see is gigantic beaver teeth.
Lexus (and increasingly Toyota) are doing the same thing with their “angry Cylon” look.
At least Acura had the sense to get away from that weird bird beak thing they did for a year or two. The other guys took their “so ugly it must be stylish” concepts and just ran with them. Ugh.
I like Lucid, just cannot justify the cost. My house was less expensive.
Your house was less than $70,000?
Instead of focusing adding Microsoft Teams to their cars, they need to create better designs (egg shaped cars dont sell well) and focus more what makes a Mercedes the standard of luxury. Adding a bunch of screens is not the solution.
Agreed. The bloated-tick styling of the EV line was mystifying. I think the CEO asserted that their EV lineup would have modern, now-a-go-go styling. They look even more horrid in person.
I’ll never look at a EQS the same way again, thanks.
My work here is done.
Your work is the Lord’s work.
You don’t like ticks????
They sure tick me off!
The styling, in my view, is far from the biggest problem. Personally I don’t mind the styling.
The biggest problem I see are the quality problems and ill-advised corner cutting for something that is supposed to be a high end luxury car. Check out this video that goes over it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSGSwaoM5yE
Wow
Old Mercedes was never the standard of luxury, they were the standard of Quality. A childhood neighbor had an old (’70?) 500 SEL that I had the pleasure of riding in a few times. His new Cadillac had more toys and geegaws, but you could feel that Mercedes was built to last forever. Real metal, real wood, real hide, Bosch mechanical FI, not a carb. Built to a standard, not a cost.
Quite likely the best built cars in the world.
I think that’s been Lexus for some time, now. Nobody notices because they’re painfully hideous.
Lexus came around about the same time Mercedes lost it’s way. I wish I had bought an first Gen LS400 or SC400 20 years ago. I’d still rock it today. A college pal had an ’88 Legend, it was eye opening for someone raised on older Ford product.
I did basic car repairs in college for cash and beer. The foreign cars were a joy. GM always tore my heart out.
Lexus was the reason Mercedes-Benz lost its way. Through the seventies and eighties Mercedes was able to increase prices and margins (the dollar more than recovered its delines against European currencies by 1986, but German car prices kept going up) in the US continually without affecting demand. The LS400 offered a credible alternative in terms of build quality and the kind of performance that mattered to American consumers for a lot less, and Mercedes-Benz had to cut costs to maintain its margins in the new environment.
You speak truth. In 1986 the best built mass market car in the world was likely a Mercedes. In 1990 the best built mass market car in the world was the LS400. Period.
In contemporary reviews the only thing Lexus lost in was perceived paint quality.
I’m always right about everything. It’s a curse.
Lexus did it better for cheaper. Period. That is how they dominate the global car market.
I think I should disclose that I own a 2019 Lexus ES hybrid. I got it specifically for the chrome. So much chrome, relative to other offerings. Also, the reliability, fuel mileage, comfort, quiet, and a very decent sound system… for much less than people pay for SUVs.
So Mercedes can export EQS and EQE from Alabama to the EU tariff free, whereas it’s 15% the other way around.
I thank President Trump for the privilege to pay the extra 15% tax. SO MUCH WINNING.
Pretty much, but that’s basically the same thing they’ve already done with diesels or RHD vehicles (for 30 years) that weren’t even allowed to be sold here. But it hits a little harder when it’s a car that could be sold here, but isn’t…because of semi-arbitrary economic policies.
This is a pretty big deal for our factory here, which expanded something like 30% specifically for EV sales. I started seeing them around in pre-production form, usually in the hands of plant managers (sometimes with partial camo).
And after that, I can count on one hand all the Mercedes EV models I’ve seen in the hands of the general public. We even have a Vinfast dealer here now (and zero Tesla or Rivian shops, even though both are very common now).
For the sake of the line workers, hopefully the brand cachet will help them sell well in China or wherever else the Mercedes badge still has some clout. Because it’s not here 🙂
I see the EQS and EQE quite often here in the NYC Metro area. People seem to like them even before somehow Tesla became less popular.
All they had to do was build better EVs.
Their offerings are a joke because they aren’t cars, they’re rolling discotheques, and unlike the Mercedes of the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, they aren’t built anywhere near to the standard of durability, reparability, and longevity that once defined their lineup.
Mercedes could build the best EVs on Earth if they put the engineers in charge and got rid of the bean counters. It isn’t difficult for an electric powertrain to easily exceed the lifespan and the low operating cost of the fabled 240D manuals they once sold just by gutting all the proprietary BS and tech bloat.
But they won’t do it…
Not better, just cheaper.
Not every EV needs leather everywhere, heated and cooled front and rear seats, RGB lighting everywhere, screens that make the Lincoln Square IMAX theater jealous, wheels the size of Texas, and styling that’s ridiculous just for the sake of it.
A well made EV that actually has options will bring in customers. Remember 25 years ago when someone could walk into a dealer and buy a cheap car with little in the way of convenience features, and the next guy could option out that same car to provide a lap of luxury?
Nowadays, every car has to be a S Class competitor because making cars is cheap and everything is software driven. So they load up the cars with useless crap to justify the huge profit margins. And since they don’t offer de-contented options, people have to buy what they’re selling. Then they get to pat themselves on the back for a job well done and make gajillions.
The first idiot executive to make a reliable, cheap EV with a reasonable set of options will take over the market. Looking at you, Slate…
“Not better, just cheaper.”
For something like ‘the S-Class of BEVs’ which is what the EQS was supposed to be, ‘better and NOT cheaper’ would have been the way to go.
“Not every EV needs leather everywhere, heated and cooled front and rear seats, RGB lighting everywhere,”
I completely agree. And it’s the biggest problem on mass-market brands.
For a luxury car that goes for a premium, I can understand.
But for a Ford, Toyota, Dodge, Honda, etc?
All that stuff should NOT be standard. Also on the subject of “leather” that companies like Ford uses… their “leather” is the cheapest fucking leather and honestly, I’d rather just have cloth.
Has any company lost their way over the last decade quite as much as Mercedes?
Stellantis and Nissan maybe aren’t in great shape but still have some reasonable product for sale. I can’t think of a Mercedes Benz model introduced recently that I thought was an improvement over its direct predecessor. These phoned-in EVs are merely the most obvious symptom of the decline.
This, is 100% correct.
I have only bought one MB (used, of course) but it was the S55 AMG. That thing, albeit a horrible piece of junk, had identity and presence. When you rumbled up in that thing, even people who didn’t care about cars would notice. Not that I needed attention, I bought it because it was luxurious, handsome and the supercharged bit was pretty nice too.
While MB still makes fast stuff, they also make the CLA/GLA which seems like such a move toward the bottom. They make these awful looking EVs that look like a melted bar of soap that don’t seem to carry on with any of the look or feel of anything they’ve done. Not that your previous models should be a boat anchor to the past, but ideally, they were designed to be evolutionary and carrying elements forward would be a good thing, not a bad one. Instead they just abandoned all of that and took a hard left into ugly and cheap looking.
My last boss had some bland MB CUV thing that I rode in not long ago, I honestly have no idea which one it was and I usually pay attention to models. It was nice, but it didn’t at all feel special. It fit the definition of “an car”. It could have well been a Toyota as it had zero personality, it didn’t have any presence, was not innovative, was entirely forgettable.
It seems that MB should just spin off an aspirational brand for most of their bland stuff, call it MB Sport or something. Then hit hard on promoting the actual higher-end Mercedes Benz (gotta use the whole name) as their cool stuff (of which they still make some).
I mean maybe some, but they still put a “63” badge on a 2.0T; the rot goes all the way to the top.
I think MB lost it when they went all in on luxury and glitz and , at least in the USA, abandoned build quality, engineering, safety, and durability above all else. They even had a book to order every part in the car with an exploded diagram. In the unlikely case that you wanted to order a connecting rod by mail, the instructions were in the glove box.
Then MB pivoted to Luxury cars and conspicuous consumption.
Even their USA customers became unpleasant to be around.
There was a taxi driver that had a W123 cab in NYC, and I heard that MB was actually annoyed that it made them look bad.
Mercedes in the USA has been pretty much on a decline since about the mid 1980s.
The only thing that would get me in a MB showroom is if they started advertising that they made great taxis.
I agree with the critique of MB, but also don’t think it is an outlier. BMW, Audi, VW, Jaguar, have all lost the thread of what originally made them interesting brands. When the market only wants CUVs and trucks, and even entry-level brands have radar cruise, heated seats, and CarPlay, the “premium” brands lean into the tacky, glitzy stuff that draws attention.
Fair to an extent, but I still think MB has lost the plot the most (unless you want to say Jaguar with their hiatus). Their styling is arguably the worst, their premium models seem to have fallen the hardest from where they were, and their powertrains are the least interesting to me.
Maybe I would vote for BMW as having gone further off track because that is where my preference used to be. For me, BMW’s styling is more aggressively terrible, and the fact that it abandoned any and all driver feedback really put them in a position that is diametrically opposed to what used to make BMW interesting.
IMHO, they lost their zest because everybody is luxury now. Cartman in the recent South Park episode pretty much sums it up: “I’m no longer special anymore”
It think MB is in a decent position to do a hard reset on its lineup and get back to what made their cars special in the first place. Their cars always had some tech that was uncommon in less expensive brands, but it was build quality nobody else could touch that made their old customers willing to pay the premium. I doubt they would consider it though. It’s way easier to make money by building average quality vehicles and stuffing them full of expensive options that are only designed to last for the duration of the warranty.
Perhaps Mercedes and Stellantis should do a merg…..never mind.
MB’s inability to sell their EVs is as much of an indictment of most car companies’ poor planning/absence of forethought as it is an example of the average buyer not really knowing what they want.
“Has any company lost their way over the last decade quite as much as Mercedes?”
Yes… Stellantis. Followed by Nissan.
And BMW is tied with Mercedes.
At first I thought Mercedes really did something drastic but the I realized you meant Mercedes-Benz.
Her word is LAW!!