The Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV is no longer available to order in Australia as the current model reaches the end of the line – and the next generation is still a while away.
Order books for the Mercedes-Benz EQC – the electric sibling of the petrol GLC SUV – have closed as the current model on sale in Australia for nearly four years reaches the end of the line.
However, according to overseas reports, there may be a wait of more than a year before a new model based on the latest GLC arrives in local showrooms.
Mercedes-Benz Australia has confirmed local order books have closed for the EQC – the company’s first electric vehicle in Australia – and there is no longer a model page for the vehicle on its website.
Some pre-built stock remains in the country for purchase. At the time of publishing, the Mercedes-Benz website lists 33 new EQCs in stock nationally, with five more examples due by the end of next month.
The EQC was unveiled in Europe in late 2018 – and arrived in Australia at the end of 2019 – mid-way through the life cycle of the first-generation GLC from which the electric model is derived (albeit not identical to, with a different body).
Although a new-generation GLC is now in Australian showrooms – after its unveiling in Europe in June 2022 – and production of the current EQC is preparing to end, a new EQC has not been shown.
Spy photos are yet to be captured of the next EQC in on-road testing in Europe – which typically begins to occur about 18 months or two years before the car is unveiled.
However according to report from industry journal Automotive News in the US, Mercedes-Benz dealers there have been shown the design of the next-generation model, and it is due next year.
If this timeline is accurate, first Australian showroom arrivals for the new model may be 12 to 18 months away. Mercedes-Benz has not confirmed plans or arrival timing for the vehicle.
Automotive News says the electric SUV was displayed to dealers as the “electric GLC”, rather than EQC – supporting reports that Mercedes-Benz is looking to ditch the EQ sub-branding for its electric cars.
The new electric GLC or EQC is claimed to wear “an all-new design” and offer “about 300 miles [483km] of [driving] range,” according to the report.
A dealer reportedly described the SUV as “having a rounded front and rear rather than the boxy styling of the [petrol-engined] variant. The [electric GLC] had a pair of power domes on the [bonnet] and a light signature running across the front.”
Mercedes-Benz Australia reported 154 examples of the EQC as sold in the first half of this year – down 40 per cent on the 257 reported over the same period the year prior, but up on the 127 reported as sold in the first half of 2021.
With the arrival of newer competitors – including the Tesla Model Y, Australia’s current best-selling electric vehicle, last year – the EQC has slipped from eighth place on the electric-car sales leaderboard in 2021, to 24th in the first half of 2023.
The post Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV orders close, new model at least a year away appeared first on Drive.
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