While other automakers are looking to come out with new electric SUVs for the American market, Mercedes-Benz has reportedly abandoned plans to bring the all-electric EQC to the U.S. Originally, the electric SUV was expected to go on sale at the beginning of 2020, but was delayed until early 2021. Now, Autoblog reports that the electric EQC won’t be offered in the U.S., at least for the time being.
A company spokesperson told the outlet that “following a comprehensive review of market developments, the EQC will not be offered in the United States for now.” While that makes it sound like Mercedes could sell the EQC in the U.S. in the future, it certainly doesn’t look like the electric SUV will be available for American consumers to purchase anytime soon.
Hearing Mercedes pull the plug on the EQC is surprising. The SUV made its debut at the CES show in 2019 and Mercedes announced initial plans to launch the vehicle shortly after. The automaker even priced the vehicle – $68,895 including destination – for the U.S. market and outlined the three trim levels that it planned to offer here. It’s a little confusing for Mercedes to go through all of this trouble and then decide not to offer the vehicle here.
If the EQC went on sale when it was supposed to, it would compete against the likes of the Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-tron, Tesla Model X, and Ford Mustang Mach-E. Mercedes never gave an official range estimate for the EQC, but the SUV was expected to have a range of roughly 200 miles. That would’ve put it behind the e-tron (222 miles), Mustang Mach-E (305 miles), Model X (371 miles), and I-Pace (234 miles). Interestingly, BMW also decided not to sell the all-electric iX3 in America recently.
Now that the EQC is officially not coming to the U.S., Mercedes-Benz can focus entirely on the EQS sedan. That luxury electric vehicle will be positioned as a green substitute for the large S-Class. Not much is known about the sedan besides that it will come with a lot of the same luxury features as Mercedes’ flagship sedan and is expected to have a range of roughly 300 miles.
At the moment, consumers searching for an electric luxury vehicle can choose from the Porsche Taycan, Tesla Model S, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model Y, Polestar 2, BMW i3, Audi e-tron, and Jaguar I-Pace.
2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC Priced From $68,895
2021 BMW iX3 Production Canceled For U.S.
2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC Electric SUV Debuts
Mercedes EQB Range May Exceed 260 miles
First BMW iX Deliveries Already Sold Out
