Mercedes-Benz is aiming for a sweet spot of the luxury-sedan market with its newest electric vehicle — the midsize EQE.
The gasoline-powered E-Class sedan has been a longtime cornerstone of Mercedes’ lineup, and the automaker is eager to hang on to those buyers as the market shifts to EVs. Midsize sedans are the second-largest luxury-car segment behind compacts, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.
The EQE, introduced Sunday ahead of the Munich auto show, is based on Mercedes’ new Electric Vehicle Architecture and will go up against the Audi A6 E-tron and BMW’s planned electric version of the 5 Series. It will be built in Bremen, Germany, and Beijing and arrive in the U.S. in the second half of 2022.
It will be the first of up to four Mercedes EVs planned for the U.S. next year as the automaker looks to undercut Tesla’s lead while challenging traditional rivals that are also rapidly electrifying their lineups.
