The vast majority of automobile companies are focused on carrying out the transition to 100% electric mobility. As one of them, Mercedes-Benz is placing a huge investment in the development of electric cars, although focused on a customer with purchasing power and, particularly, for a luxury sector. However, the company’s own CEO, Ola Kallenius, has stated that this type of customer will be completely favorable when making the change to electric mobility.
These statements have been made in a recent interview in CNBC. In the first instance, Kallenius has assured that he believes that gasoline and diesel thermal vehicles still have a long way to go, though possibly less than might be expected. The company’s chief executive officer hopes that the increased interest of a high-end public in electric vehicles will accelerate the transition, something that they expect to be more complicated on the more popular mid-range market.
The CEO stated that most historical brands have focused on the Tesla model, a manufacturer that has been able to take a large part of the cake from well-established companies in the automotive sector. Although the American company cannot be considered a luxury vehicle brand, there have been many sales that have cannibalized BMW, Mercedes or Audi from possible potential buyers, something that has made these companies focus on such mobility with greater interest.
Kallenius stated that potential customers in the coming years will focus their interest on the electric automotive market and Mercedes, for its part, is a sector in which it will focus a large part of its efforts. In recent months we have learned that the German company plans to eliminate “less profitable” vehicles, such as the A-Class, in favor of vehicles that have a higher level of effective income, such as electric or high-end vehicles. “If buyers increasingly choose electric vehicles over gasoline, only these will make sense for the brand. This will lead to a much faster product transition.”affirmed the CEO of Mercedes.
Speaking about the current state of the vehicle market, Kallenius pointed out that it is currently in full transition. “Step by step we see how the market changes. I really believe that in this decade we will go from being based on combustion engines to electric.”
To all this, the person in charge added that the reduction of emissions by car manufacturers should be an obligation, but on the other hand it also means a high profit margin and “a better business” for all companies. However, the CEO assumed that Mercedes will continue to sell electric and gasoline cars together for many more years, although the market will gradually automatically regulate interest in “zero emissions”.
Finally, Kallenius admitted that currently most of the brand’s electric options are already out of production for the coming months; a fact that consolidates his opinion that the transition to electric vehicles is a reality.
