Mercedes drops B-class Electric Drive

Mercedes-Benz will drop the slow-selling B-class Electric Drive after the 2017 model year, as it focuses its electric car efforts largely on the EQ family instead.

Mercedes-Benz USA spokesman, Rob Moran, confirmed the vehicle’s demise, saying that the production would be phased out in the third quarter.

Mercedes will halt B-class Electric Drive assembly in Rastatt, Germany, as it converts the plant to production of next-generation compact vehicles in 2018, Moran said.

Mercedes will continue to produce gasoline and diesel powered versions of the B-class hatchback. Mercedes has sold just 3,651 of the B-class Electric Drive since it went on sale in December 2013.

“Due to our strategic focus on (connectivity, autonomous driving, sharing and electric drive systems) for the mobility of the future, we are planning the step-by-step electrification of our portfolio. Moreover, we are evaluating the production of our new generation of electric vehicles at all of our locations of Mercedes Benz Cars,” Moran told Auto News.

Parent company, Daimler AG, has said it is investing more than $11 billion to bring more than 10 new electric cars to market by 2022.

Many will be launched under the EQ sub-brand announced last year. Company executives have said EVs could account for up to 25 per cent of global sales by 2025.