A few weeks ago, Mercedes made the decision to delay U.S. sales of its all-electric EQC for a year to “support the growing customer demand for the EQC in Europe.” Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of German sales as there have been only 55 of the heavily advertised SUVs registered in the country over the past two months.
The German publication Welt asked the auto company for sales information about the SUV, but the company was hesitant to give the data. Welt Checked Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority database and found only 55 registered EQCs in the country. Nineteen of them were from November, the vehicle’s first production month. The Audi E-Tron had 192 sales the same month.
It is possible that Mercedes is having a slow production ramp, although 55 in two months is exceptionally slow for an automaker like Mercedes. Welt reports that Audi sold 478 E-Trons in Germany in March, that vehicle’s first month.
Electric vehicles are still a niche in Germany, accounting for only 57,533 of the 3.6 million registered cars in the country last year. Still, the Renault Zoe and the Tesla Model 3 each had several three-digit sales months there.
The European Luxury electric SUVs seem to be struggling for sales all over the world, but Mercedes troubles might be homebrewed. The entire drivetrain of the EQC is sourced from supplier ZF. Alexander Eisenkopf, Zeppelin University’s Chair of Economic & Transport Policy criticized this approach, saying “If an automobile company installs its central component - engine and drive train - as a supplier part with ‘third-party’ technology, the company’s DNA will be permanently disrupted.” (Google translation from Welt article).