Mercedes gets in top gear

THREE-POINTED STAR: PLAN TO INTRODUCE SIX NEW MODELS TO ITS PORTFOLIO IN 2025

- Jaco van der Merwe

With an array of performance offerings waiting in the wings and a new boss at the helm, Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) is confident that they can arrest their recent decline in sales. Claudius Steinhoff, who recently took over from Mark Raine as CEO of MBSA, believes the three-pointed star has enough going for it amid many challenges. Economic pressure has seen many car owners buy down from premium brands of late, while the relentless influx from China are giving all the legacy car brands sleepless nights. Mercedes is the first to admit that their January new passenger car sales of 354 is not the kind of market share the brand was once used to.

MBSA plans to introduce six new models to its portfolio in 2025:

The first all-electric G-Wagon looks impressive on paper. It is powered by a 116kWh lithium-ion battery pack hooked up to four electric motors producing 432kW of power and 1164Nm of torque, the latter the most ever by a G-Class. The G580 is said to sprint from 0 to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds with its top speed limited to 180km/h. Its claimed range is 473km.