Hot! Mercedes-Benz, What's Next?

[Swissbob]

Wait a moment...


Massive decline in new registrations in China for Mercedes in July 2025

Car production in China rose by around 15% in July 2025. Mercedes is unable to benefit from this. Mercedes lost 46% of new registrations in July 2025 compared to the same month last year. Sales also fell by around 19% in the January to July period as a whole.

China as a market is dead for all western companies, or it’ll become it.

Therefore I wouldn’t bother. It’s the same with expensive watches from Switzerland and smartwatches.

They need to concentrate on small series luxury items.

 

[Uygar]

Simply farting around with AI imaging.

Electric MY 2028 W224 M-B S-Class sedan.

Looks like a mix between EQS and S

 

[Design FIRST]

Looks like a mix between EQS and S

Yes, it does I suppose. I had "convergence of design" on my mind.

 

[Luca]

I've repeated it several times, and sorry if I insist on this point, but a radical shift in interior design is needed. Unfortunately, that won't be the case for at least five years. All the interiors of future models will take inspiration from the CLA. And here, Dr. Kallenius is responsible.

 

[Matski]

His wife is a tree hugger what do you expect.

We covered this before...

Hot! Post in thread 'Mercedes-Benz, What's Next?'

Jul 11, 2025

Well Wikipedia says it in different wording.

Yeah, but the citation is an article that barely mentions his wife, and (at least according to the translation), does not make that claim at all. Might be true, might not be, but somebody editing it in to a Wiki article without an actual source hardly makes it true, no matter how keen people are to believe it.

• Matski

• 

Curious to see if there's now a better source on offer than wikipedia, or AI results that cite wikipedia.

 

[Uygar]

Yes, it does I suppose. I had "convergence of design" on my mind.

Which AI did you use?

 

[Serpens]

If they lower the price and put together a compelling tech/range update they might be able to sell some EQE models, particularly the SUV. The EQS I don’t see any hope for.

M

I think the EQE is going to get overshadowed by the C-class EV almost instantly.

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

I think the EQE is going to get overshadowed by the C-class EV almost instantly.

Good. But until the C-EV releases, they should clear the channels with good deals on the EQE.
I've sat in one, and it's not bad as a comfortable cruiser. Its just too expensive for what it is.

 

[Design FIRST]

Which AI did you use?

Good ol' very basic Gemini text generation image creator. Basically inserting an as detailed as possible text description of what image I would like to create. Very rudimentary. Anything more sophisticated would probably confuse me.

 

[Uygar]

Good ol' very basic Gemini text generation image creator. Basically inserting an as detailed as possible text description of what image I would like to create. Very rudimentary. Anything more sophisticated would probably confuse me.

Wow, I had no idea Gemini could generate images actually. According to people the best AI to create images from a prompt or create image to image renderings (like I do) is Midjourney.
These AI tools are great for amateur designers that can’t use hardcore rendering softwares.

 

[Design FIRST]

...not so easy getting my shit together with this AI stuff...

Gemini AI doesn't speak my language. Or I don't speak it's language. I couldn't delete the hood/front fender shutlines. Whatever..."my" coverged exterior design electric W224 S-Class sedan.

 

[sucu123]

The proportions have changed vastly. No facelift can make the EQS look this good. Imho this front design would improve the car a little bit, but the overall appearance remains problematic.

 

[Esp5]

Wait a moment...


Massive decline in new registrations in China for Mercedes in July 2025

Car production in China rose by around 15% in July 2025. Mercedes is unable to benefit from this. Mercedes lost 46% of new registrations in July 2025 compared to the same month last year. Sales also fell by around 19% in the January to July period as a whole.

This means that Mercedes is losing more ground than BMW and Audi.

A 46% sales drop in the world's largest market is very serious, and combined with Mercedes' many other global problems, creates such a complex situation that I don't think Ola and Gordon will last much longer.

 

[Uygar]

...not so easy getting my shit together with this AI stuff...

Gemini AI doesn't speak my language. Or I don't speak it's language. I couldn't delete the hood/front fender shutlines. Whatever..."my" coverged exterior design electric W224 S-Class sedan.

If you’re using an iPhone use the “clean up”. It uses AI to get rid of unwanted stuff on your photos.
If you want to do small photoshopping projects I would recommend using Picsart, and for more professional projects Adobe is the best. Adobe Photoshop requires lots of knowledge though since it’s so complicated.

 

[klier]

I think the EQE is going to get overshadowed by the C-class EV almost instantly.

Yeah they might as well scrap the EQE when the EV C class becomes available. I don't even think they differ much is exterior dimension, but the EQE will likely be a little more spacious inside because of it's weird design. But no-one will care about that.

 

[Design FIRST]

If you’re using an iPhone use the “clean up”. It uses AI to get rid of unwanted stuff on your photos.
If you want to do small photoshopping projects I would recommend using Picsart, and for more professional projects Adobe is the best. Adobe Photoshop requires lots of knowledge though since it’s so complicated.

I managed to get it cleaned up a bit. Well, kinda anyway.

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

Yeah they might as well scrap the EQE when the EV C class becomes available. I don't even think they differ much is exterior dimension, but the EQE will likely be a little more spacious inside because of it's weird design. But no-one will care about that.

They'll probably keep the EQE around as long as they have them in the supply channels. It wouldn't surprise me if they remove it from factory order around the time of the C-EV launch.

They should offer up some big incentives and just shift as many as they can before then. Take the hit financially. Better to make some money back, than no money back.

 

[MPertz]

I've repeated it several times, and sorry if I insist on this point, but a radical shift in interior design is needed. Unfortunately, that won't be the case for at least five years. All the interiors of future models will take inspiration from the CLA. And here, Dr. Kallenius is responsible.

And that exactly is the problem - taking them 5 years to release a new design.
I'm working for one of the Chinese companies (.... With the dreams in the name) and what I had to learn was the speed in execution and the adaptability to the changes. I've been working for 20 years in an American company, and working for a Chinese company was a shock (and still is) for me.
While the Germans (and to a certain extent the Japanese also) take 3-4 years to release a car, and after that another 3 years to make a facelift, the Chinese can make a new model in 6-12 months. The design is "frozen" until a change must be done, even if that means that the car is already in production for one month.
They adapt and make the changes along the way. In China there isn't such a thing as "frozen design" and they don't touch it for another 3 years.

Chinese are still not at the same quality level as the German ones, but the flexibility and speed of execution is getting them there.
Germans will not be able build cheap cars in China like their competitors, because for that they will have to completely change their way of working, which in the end wouldn't be Mercedes or BMW anymore. But sourcing most of the parts locally in China, will help to decrease the cost.

 

[klier]

And that exactly is the problem - taking them 5 years to release a new design.
I'm working for one of the Chinese companies (.... With the dreams in the name) and what I had to learn was the speed in execution and the adaptability to the changes. I've been working for 20 years in an American company, and working for a Chinese company was a shock (and still is) for me.
While the Germans (and to a certain extent the Japanese also) take 3-4 years to release a car, and after that another 3 years to make a facelift, the Chinese can make a new model in 6-12 months. The design is "frozen" until a change must be done, even if that means that the car is already in production for one month.
They adapt and make the changes along the way. In China there isn't such a thing as "frozen design" and they don't touch it for another 3 years.

Chinese are still not at the same quality level as the German ones, but the flexibility and speed of execution is getting them there.
Germans will not be able build cheap cars in China like their competitors, because for that they will have to completely change their way of working, which in the end wouldn't be Mercedes or BMW anymore. But sourcing most of the parts locally in China, will help to decrease the cost.

Meanwhile, the Model S went on sale that same "many years ago", and he is still trying to sell it. BYD has made like 20 new models since then.

We are completely screwed. It's impossible for Tesla to keep up, let alone the traditional OEMs.
Since BMW introduced the Neue Klasse branding, Chinese brands have launched 100 new models. And the Neue Klasse cars are only hitting dealerships next year.

 

[MPertz]

I believe Mercedes/BMW/Audi/VW sales in China will only go downhill, at best stagnate. The reason for this is that Nio, BYD, Xpeng, Xiaomi, Avatar, etc, they managed to make accessible for the masses what was only available for the rich. They managed to give almost the same technology (if not newer) and luxury like in the premium German cars for half the price.
I think this is enough of a reason for the Chinese buyers to buy the local brands (with all of their quality issues) and not pay at least double the price for the German brands.

Mercedes should stay true to their brand and legacy and offer premium products even in China. They shouldn't dilute the brand just for the sales. If they really want to get the numbers, then probably they should make a new car brand (like BYD's Denza) , associate it with Mercedes and then do whatever they want out of it to be able to compete with the Chinese brands.