Mercedes-Benz reportedly plans to put an end to its EQS before a new generation hits. The electric sedan will instead be folded into the S-Class sedan lineup, leaving behind its polarizing design.
In the wake of the departure of longtime design chief Gorden Wagener, Mercedes-Benz has been revisiting its EV strategy in response to the lukewarm reception given the designs of the brand’s recent line of all-electric cars. Critically panned for their looks, those models never garnered the numbers of sales expected. The EQS never approached the numbers racked up by the gas-engine S-Class.
Mercedes-Benz showed its intentions during the redesign of the CLA, which is now offered (in Europe anyways) in both hybrid and all-electric versions that feature the same external design. Now, reports out of Europe have the automaker planning the same type of course correction with the larger S Class sedan.
Mercedes hasn’t confirmed if and when it might put an end to the EQS’ career, but logic dictates it will be within the next three or four years, at which point a new generation of the S-Class is expected.
But while the exteriors of the next electric and non-electric versions of the S Class are likely to look alike, they may well still sit on different platforms. Back in late 2024, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius told Auto Express that in his view, creating an optimal interior environment with two different powertrain types does require having separate platforms, conceived for the powertrains they will house.
Of course, that was over a year ago, and a lot has changed since then. A lot more is likely to change between now and 2030 as well. Much as Mercedes holds dear to its heart the idea of offering a compromise-free all-electric flagship design, it’s not clear even a well-designed EQS would have sold enough to warrant investing in developing a separate architecture. Time will tell what the company ultimately decides. What we do know, though, is that Mercedes’ recent design experiment for its EVs can probably be considered dead in the water.