Mercedes rolling out ambitious e-vehicle strategy
“When you’re one of the last ones to the party, you make sure you bring the best bottle of wine.”
So said Mercedes-Benz chairman of the board Dr. Dieter Zetsche when uncorking the luxury automaker’s foray into the burgeoning electric-vehicle space.
It’s a space that is going to get crowded quickly, with a promise of 10 all-new EVs coming from the German automaker by 2022.
Canadians got their first taste of that with the debut of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.
“2019 is the year of the SUV for Mercedes-Benz,” president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Canada Brian Fulton declared at the official unveiling of the EQC.
Postmedia spoke with Fulton about the EQC and his company’s entry into Canada’s all-electric segment.
PM: What’s the first electric vehicle you ever drove?
BF: That would have been the Smart EV, when it first came out. And we still have it our lineup. It was a lot of fun. It took some getting used to. There’s no engine, no revving. It’s quiet. I was impressed with the boost and the acceleration. PM: You’ve just unveiled for the first time in Canada an all-electric Mercedes-Benz SUV. Would you have ever thought that day would come when you first drove the Smart EV?
BF: Slowly but surely, like many Canadians, I am getting my head wrapped around it. When the EQC comes to Canada next year I will have it in my driveway and (I’m) looking forward to driving it. PM: When you think about a future EQC customer, is that a current Mercedes-Benz owner of a gas-powered vehicle or someone who already owns an electric vehicle?
BF: I see both. We have a very loyal customer base, and if you look at the reason why people are considering getting into an electric vehicle — they want to be environmentally friendly, they know they’ll have to drive an EV soon — why not go with a brand with a proven track record of great design, style and comfort?
PM: It’s always tricky for automakers when they introduce radically different vehicles in terms of how dealers respond. How has your network in Canada taken the coming introduction of so many EVs? BF: There’s excitement. Our dealers clearly see that electric is a part of our future. Our expectation is that by 2025 one out of every four vehicles that we sell will be full electric or a plug-in hybrid. We’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re ready, things like infrastructure, charging, everything that needs to be done within the brick-and-mortar of a dealership to be able to accommodate this shift in powertrain technology. Driving.ca