DETROIT: SUV enthusiasts, of which there appear to be an awful lot these days, will be delighted to hear the German luxury automaker is responding to demand by planning to offer even more SUVs in the future.
Last year, sales of Mercedes SUVs continued to grow substantially, and in the US alone they grew by nearly 10 percent to further expand the company's lead over rival German manufacturer, BMW. Impressive demand for models such as the GLA and GLC crossovers made a big contribution to Mercedes-Benz finishing 2017 as the biggest luxury automaker in the world for what is now a second consecutive year.
Britta Seeger, the head of Mercedes sales and marketing, said during an interview at the Detroit auto show this week, "We have more ideas to add new products to our portfolio, though maybe not so much at the upper end of the SUV range for now," Bloomberg reported.
After BMW enjoyed a global lead in luxury vehicle sales for a decade, Mercedes-Benz has no intention of giving up its two-year status as the global leader in the luxury market without a fight. Mercedes has overtaken BMW with a combination of the refreshing of a number of designs that had become a little tired and staid, and the addition of more and more crossovers to its expanding range.
Smaller, compact SUVs appear to be where the company has identified the greatest opportunity for further growth, so we should probably expect to see more of these in the coming years, especially ones with electrified powertrains -- and in fact just this week, what is claimed to be the electric 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC SUV showed up in spyshots.
However, cars will also play a big part in the company's immediate future, especially the all-new A-Class that will finally see this popular nameplate offered for sale in America for the first time.
Seeger commented, "Globally, we're very confident we'll see a strong year during 2018. We're optimistic for a strong year in Europe on the back of the revamped A class and a stable development on sales in the US."
