The Mercedes-Benz EQ S Electric Saloon Arriving in 2020

Mercedes-Benz is planning to release its ultra-luxurious electric sedan by 2020. With a unique strategy, the German company will not make the new saloon a member of the highly-respected S-Class family, which could actually jack up its popularity before the launch. Instead, the company is confident to give the EV a totally different name.

Usually, automakers that plan to launch an all-electric luxury sedan would just make a new version of an already-exist and famous model. Like Jaguar for instance, who want to produce an EV version of the XJ saloon; also Audi who is pushing its A8 into all-electric territory. Mercedes, however, is thinking about an out-of-tune strategy.

The Mercedes’ new high-end EV will undoubtedly be at the S-Class’ level, but it won’t be an S-Class vehicle; that’s what the automaker’s head engineer Michael Kelz told Autocar. The badge that will be used by the “top-of-the-line car” belongs to EQ, the Mercedes’ budding lineup featuring its future electric models.

The Mercedes-Benz EQ S, that’s how it will be called, won’t even use the same platform that underpins the hybrid S-Class, since it won’t be compatible with the future sedan that is fully electrified. The EQ S will instead sit on Mercedes’ new platform codenamed MEA (modular electric architecture).

The possible reason why the German automaker isn’t making the new electric saloon an extension of the S-Class family is because the S-Class lineage is special. If the company plans to make a radical change to its vehicles, such as fully electrifying them for instance, then the S-Class should be the last lineup the company wants to touch.

Why? Because the S-Class is a strong brand that has gone through many generations and managed to attain steady success along the way. So if the company makes a drastic change to it, it’s basically putting at stake the long-established interest of the S-Class conservative customers.