Mercedes-Benz Pulls the Plug on Bringing the EQC to America

author: Vineeth Joel Patel   

Mercedes-Benz has been talking about entering the all-electric market in the United States with the EQC SUV since the vehicle debuted at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show. While other automakers, like Ford, Audi, Tesla, Jaguar, Hyundai, Kia, and Chevrolet have electric SUVs on sale, Mercedes is canceling its all-electric SUV. According to Autoblog, the EQC SUV won't be coming to American anytime soon.


EQC Isn't Coming Soon


The outlet reports that Mercedes has pulled the plug on the EQC for the American market after reviewing market developments. "Following a comprehensive review of market developments, the EQC will not be offered in the United States for now," a company spokesperson told the outlet.


We're not sure of what market developments Mercedes-Benz is referring to, but BMW recently decided not to sell the all-electric iX3 in America, too. At the time, BMW didn't provide any information on why it decided not to bring the iX3 to the U.S., but we believed it could have been something to do with the SUV's range. In other parts of the world, the iX3 comes with a 74-kWh battery pack that would've given the electric SUV roughly 210 miles of range on the EPA cycle. Since BMW didn't give anything concrete when it canceled the iX3, this is just speculation.


Now, Mercedes has made a similar decision to BMW and it's surprising. Originally, Mercedes stated that the EQC would go on sale in the U.S. in early 2020. Then, the SUV was delayed an entire year to the beginning of 2021. Now, Mercedes has officially stated that the SUV won't be going on sale in the near future, but it's left the door open for the future. It's possible that Mercedes could wait to develop better batteries or wait to see how the landscape changes before bringing the EQC over later on.


What's Coming Instead


If Mercedes had come out with the EQC, it would've competed with the Audi e-tron, Tesla Model X, Jaguar I-Pace, and Ford Mustang Mach-E. The electric SUV even received a price tag – $68,895 (including destination) – and was going to offer the SUV in three trim levels. That figure would've made the SUV competitive in the landscape. Mercedes never confirmed what kind of range the SUV would have on the EPA cycle, though a good estimate was around 200 miles. That figure would've been less than the most competitors, but somewhat competitive.


Now that the EQC is no longer an option, Mercedes's first electric vehicle in America will be the 2022 EQS. That large luxury sedan is expected to arrive this fall and be an electric version of the S-Class. With SUVs being all the rage, one can't help but wonder what the real reason behind deciding to choose the EQS over the EQC was. Hopefully, Mercedes sticks to its word and introduces the EQS later this year.

Vineeth Joel Patel

Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods