EQS Sedan

Segment
Sedan

CarBuzz recently drove the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS Sedan, the first EQ-branded model to arrive in the United States and the flagship of the electrified lineup. While at the drive event, Mercedes provided more details on the EQS, explaining the company's mission moving forward. Daimler AG is no more, replaced by a new parent company called Mercedes-Benz Group AG. This new group will encompass four brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach, and Mercedes-EQ. Mercedes plans to have a pure electric vehicle in every segment by 2022 before becoming an all-electric brand (in markets that allow) by 2030.

Which begs the question: If the Mercedes brand will be all-electric by 2030, will the EQS eventually become known simply as the S-Class?

So we asked Bernie Glaser, Director Product Management for Mercedes-Benz USA, exactly that.

Without wishing to comment on future product, Glaser looked us dead in the eye and tapped his nose, indicating that is precisely what is likely to happen. We can't say exactly when the change will take place, but the EQS will eventually drop the "EQ" portion of its name, and be reborn as the S-Class.

This conclusion seems pretty obvious on the surface, but has big implications for the Mercedes-EQ brand moving forward. For example, Mercedes has already shown off a new EQE sedan and EQB, with an EQS SUV and EQE SUV still to come. The EQ naming scheme is already becoming a bit complex, but it could sort itself out over time.

When speaking with Mercedes chairman Ola Kaelenius later in the trip, he expressed that the "sedan" and "SUV" designations were meant to simplify the lineup, not complicate it. He joked that "EQGLS" seemed overly long, and explained that some models (like EQS) will receive the SUV tag, while others (like EQB) don't require it because their gas-powered counterparts don't have a sedan equivalent. See what we meant by complex?

Despite this initial confusion, our earlier conversation with Glaser left us feeling satisfied with the situation. Mercedes spent the last century-plus creating world-class gasoline-powered vehicles. The German automaker must now essentially start from scratch, convincing buyers to go electric while shunning industry pioneers like Tesla. The EQ brand feels like a means to an end, drumming up excitement for new electric Mercedes models with semi-familiar nomenclature before fully integrating them into the existing model structure. We wouldn't be shocked if other legacy automakers followed suit.