Half of Mercedes-Benz cars sold in South Africa in 2027 will be plug-in, fully electric vehicles, predicts local marketing head Mark Raine. He made the bold forecast this week at the launch of the EQE, the brand’s fifth electric-car range in South Africa.
Last year the EQA, EQB, EQC and EQS were introduced. “EQ”, as you may have gathered, signifies the electric version of Mercedes models.
The EQE, a sporty business saloon built in Germany, is available in two variants: the 350+ and AMG 43 4Matic. They are priced from R1.8m and R2.2m respectively. Starting prices on other EQ ranges vary between R1.1m and R2.5m. These can go considerably higher, depending on what extras buyers demand.
The scale of these prices is what convinces Raine, who is co-CEO of Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA), that all-electric cars are the future for his customers. In an interview, he says many buyers in this price category can afford to reduce their reliance on the national electricity grid, with the installation of high-capacity solar power.
Even if, as he estimates, it costs R150,000-R180,000 and takes five years to recoup the cost through savings, he reckons customers will consider it money well spent. Without having to worry about stop-start (mostly stop) Eskom power, they will be able to recharge their cars at home whenever they want to.
Globally, Mercedes-Benz is phasing out petrol- and diesel-driven internal combustion engines (ICE) in favour of all-electric energy. Most C-Class cars built at MBSA’s East London vehicle assembly plant are still ICE, but it also makes a plug-in hybrid version with dual motors — one ICE and the other electric. The latter, with very limited range, is suitable for regular short commutes, while the ICE is best for long distances.
Nearly all East London vehicles are exported and none of the plug-in hybrids are sold in South Africa. There are still no plans to make these available, but Raine says local customers will soon be able to buy plain hybrid versions of the high-powered AMG range of C-Class cars. In these, the ICE engine constantly recharges its electric counterpart and no plug-in recharging is required.
C-Class cars used to account for 40% of MBSA sales. By 2027, Raine thinks this could be as low as 20%, with SUVs and other new models making up the remaining 30% of the 50% not occupied by electric cars.
The new EQE range comes with a claimed single-charge range of 645km. According to incoming sales and marketing head Alex Boavida, a 10-minute plug-in recharge will add another 250km.
A US report this week forecast that global sales of nonhybrid electric cars this year could exceed 11-million. In South Africa in 2022, the full-year number was barely 500
There is still a shortage of public recharging stations around South Africa — Raine estimates 300 — but as this number rises, he believes customers will be more comfortable buying electric cars for long-distance driving. Actually, it will need a lot more such stations. In the UK over the Christmas holidays, when transport strikes forced people into their cars, there were reports of more than 20 cars queuing at charging stations, with waiting times of several hours.
Also in the UK, a recent report suggested that the rising cost of electricity could make long-distance journeys cheaper in a petrol car than in an electric one. Given the insane price increases recently permitted for Eskom, could the same happen here? Definitely not, says Raine, who estimates that over the same distances, a typical month’s electric motoring will work out to R2,000, against R6,000 for a petrol or diesel engine.
If electric cars do make up 50% of MBSA sales and other brands achieve similar growth, it will be quite a turnaround for a technology that has failed to ignite the passion of South African motorists so far. A US report this week forecast that global sales of nonhybrid electric cars this year could exceed 11-million.
In South Africa in 2022, the full-year number was barely 500. The government is due next month to announce its plans to incentivise the local manufacture and sale of electric vehicles. Motor companies hope to publish their own proposals next week. More than half of locally made vehicles — almost exclusively ICE — are exported to countries that will ban their use in coming years.
Raine’s MBSA bullishness is not limited to electric power. In a year when the overall new-car market grew 19.3%, MBSA sales improved by 37% in 2022. December sales, he says, hit their best monthly level since pre-Covid.
He won’t give numbers, though. Globally, Mercedes-Benz keeps its sales figures secret. However, Naamsa estimates the company sold 1,525 cars locally in December, and exported 9,405.
Raine says the South African figure was boosted by the delivery from overseas of vehicles that had been on order for some months. Whatever the reason, it was a welcome boost for a company operating in a luxury and executive car sector that has had its market share diminish alarmingly in recent years as cash-strapped South African buyers have bought down into cheaper brands.
Raine hopes that trend has bottomed out and that the sector will now start to grow again. “We are back at cruising altitude,” he says.
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