Mercedes-Benz could axe two SUVs as the luxury brand faces dwindling sales and prepares for electric car transition: Report

Two Mercedes-Benz SUVs could be on the chopping block as the luxe German automaker looks to consolidate its line-up ahead of its zero-emissions transition.

According to Autocar UK, the GLC Coupe and larger GLE Coupe are facing the axe, as per officials from Mercedes-Benz.

The brand has already moved quite aggressively in its transition to electric vehicles, culling internal combustion engine variants of the C-Class coupe and S-Class coupe, while deleting the CLS and X-Class ute models from its global line-up altogether.

A source at Mercedes’ headquarters in Stuttgart told Autocar, “every current model is under review. It is a continuous process.”

Mercedes has one of the biggest EV portfolios of any brand in Europe, with 9 models (including two vans) currently on sale in the brand’s native Germany.

The brand’s new ‘Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture’ (MMA) – first previewed on the EQXX electric concept – is set to underpin several new models, including the all-new electric C-Class sedan.

The brand’s decision to cut several models is no doubt informed by a slowdown in global sales, partly due to emerging Chinese EV-makers undercutting its sales both in Europe and abroad.

As a result, the brand has watered down its EV sales projections, delaying a previously forecasted total sales outlook of 50 per cent EV by 2025 to 2030.

In Europe, Mercedes deliveries fell by 12.7 per cent last August compared to the previous year, according to EuroNews.

In Australia, the brand has seen a total sales decline of 21 per cent compared to this time last year.

Mercedes sold just 264 examples of the endangered GLE-class coupe in Australia to August, down 49.8 per cent from last year, while selling 1012 examples of the GLC Coupe, down 12.5 per cent.

It comes as the global sales outlook for German automakers becomes increasingly fraught.

BMW recently cut its profit expectations for 2024 while Volkswagen has signalled that it may close factories in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history.