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Mercedes-Benz Designer Raises Alarm Over Poor Station Wagon Sales
There were wild speculations a few years ago that Mercedes would discontinue all wagons by the end of the decade in order to concentrate on higher-volume models. The CLA Shooting Brake, the C-Class Estate, and the E-Class Estate are reportedly the final models in the long-roof lineup. The company’s Head of Exterior Design is already painting a bleak picture, despite Stuttgart’s lack of official confirmation.
In an interview with Autocar, Robert Lešnik stated that while journalists and automobile designers value wagons, Mercedes is seeing that “nobody is buying them” these days. As a result, the German luxury brand is hesitant to authorize the production of a more sensible version of the electric C-Class vehicle that was unveiled this week.
‘We have three regions. Nobody is buying them in America; we tried the shooting brake [version] of the CLS and nobody bought it. The Chinese don’t understand them and don’t buy them. Then Europe is left, and if you look at a Mercedes E-Class, it’s pretty expensive – so who can actually buy a car like that in Europe?’
Mercedes still sells a C-Class estate with combustion engines and is about to give the “S206” a mid-cycle facelift, meaning it will continue for several years to come. Additionally, the new CLA Shooting Brake is available with both ICE and EV powertrains, while the larger E-Class is not going anywhere for the time being. The gorgeous CLS Shooting Brake is now, sadly, only a distant memory, but it’s unrealistic to expect a carmaker to sell so many wagons.
Looking at what the competition is doing, BMW has recently teased an i3 Touring that would directly compete with an electric C-Class wagon if the three-pointed star were to build one. Then again, Munich doesn’t have a rival for the CLA Shooting Brake, so it needs a model that’s smaller and more affordable than the 5 Series/i5 Touring. BMW is open to building another 3 Series wagon with combustion engines, but it hasn’t made any commitments yet.
The electric C-Class is considered the nameplate’s sixth generation, and if a wagon doesn’t follow, it would be the first of its kind to skip the body style. Ever since the “S202” debuted in the mid-1990s, Mercedes has offered an estate version. The Slovenian car designer would love to keep the wagon flame alive, but demand just isn’t there anymore. His favorite Mercedes? Today’s “almost perfect” E-Class Estate.
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