Mercedes: Green Minister with harsh criticism – "Only cars for the rich and super-rich"

Created: 06/01/2022, 16:37

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

The new Mercedes SL: Mercedes primarily wants to grow with expensive luxury cars (symbol image) © Mercedes-Benz AG/dpa-mag

The Stuttgart car manufacturer Mercedes relies on luxury and expensive models.

Baden-Württemberg's Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) considers this strategy to be a mistake.

Stuttgart – The German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz wants to grow primarily with expensive luxury cars and thus earn more money.

"We are a luxury company," said CEO Ola Källenius at an investor conference in May.

But not everyone is happy with this new strategy.

Mercedes: Future focus on luxury models

Mercedes recently sold fewer cars, mainly because of the lack of semiconductors, but still earned better.

The high demand combined with limited availability has been leading to higher prices for some time.

The range of products at Mercedes will have three categories in the future.

In the top range, vehicles from the luxury sub-brand Maybach, the sports car subsidiary AMG and the S- and G-Class with their respective electric and SUV offshoots are sorted.

The core offer should include the top-selling models around the C and E class.

On the other hand, Mercedes wants to thin out the entry-level segment with cheaper cars. 

There was no explicit answer to the question of whether this meant the end of compact cars in the A and B classes in the long term.

"I'll leave the rest to your imagination," said the Mercedes boss only to journalists.

The media has long speculated about a possible end to the two classes.

Mercedes-Benz: criticism of the luxury strategy of Stuttgart

The head of transport policy at the environmental organization BUND, Jens Hilgenberg, criticized the strategy of Stuttgart.

Large sedans and heavy SUVs are not sustainable luxury, not even in the E variant.

What is needed, however, are cars with minimal energy, resource and space requirements.

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The Baden-Württemberg Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) has also criticized Mercedes-Benz for wanting to grow primarily with expensive luxury cars.

"I think this strategy is a mistake, it will also lead to acceptance problems if you only build cars for the rich and super-rich," said the Greens politician to the

and the

.

Mercedes: Minister Hermann warns of competition from the Far East

Hermann continued: “I can understand that you sell luxury cars to make a return.

But if you only sell luxury cars, then you leave the mass market.” Cars from the luxury segment are usually only suitable as company cars or for top and high earners.

"I actually thought Mercedes had understood that you have to diversify more - also with regard to preserving jobs."

The new strategy is an invitation for Asian vehicles, the minister said.

"Most cars from Korea, China and Japan are cheaper than those from German manufacturers, but now offer a similar standard."