Mercedes-Benz Lineup Will Be Rapidly Reduced In The Coming Years

Feb. 02, 2023 6:19 PM ET by Jarryd Neves Industry News / 8 Comments

Say goodbye to desirable wagons, coupes, and convertibles adorned with the Three-pointed star.

Mercedes-Benz is preparing to kill off more than half its lineup in the coming years as it aims to maximize profits and claim a larger slice of market share.

The German automaker revealed plans for a new business strategy last year. Products will be split between three categories - Entry Luxury, Core Luxury, and Top-End Luxury - with a keen focus on building more high-end vehicles with greater profit margins.

The lower rung of the ladder, occupied by models like the CLA and GLA-Class, will be trimmed in the near future. The A-Class and the B-Class MPV don't have long to live and will soon be axed to streamline the range. But according to Car and Driver (C&D), the luxury marque is going much further than that and plans to remove even some of the most desirable models from its range.

Mercedes-Benz

The elegant CLS-Class will be removed in 2024 with the brutish AMG GT 4-Door to suffer the same fate in 2024 or 2025. We already know the C-Class and E-Class coupes and convertibles will die with their respective generations and will be replaced with one model known as the CLE-Class. Spy shots preview a handsome vehicle that will fill dual roles and cater to both markets.

Interestingly, it seems Mercedes will also do away with coupe-style SUVs. While the new GLE and GLC models will gain coupe body styles, they'll be the last of their kind. Worst of all, an iconic Mercedes-Benz body style will also be shuffled off its mortal coil. By 2028, the C-Class wagon will be canceled. A crumb of comfort comes in the form of the next-generation E-Class longroof which, sadly, will be the automaker's last wagon. It will live until 2030.

CarBuzz

CarBuzz

Mercedes-Benz

All in all, only 14 models are expected to survive the automaker's range reduction strategy. "At the end of the day, we simply don't need [wagons] or underperforming two-door offerings to boost volumes," said a Mercedes-Benz strategist.

"The most essential elements of sustainable contemporary luxury cars are space and time ... That's our number one priority-not another fancy body style, a model that only works in Europe, or one last stab at a dying segment." So what's behind this decision? As mentioned, the new business strategy will see a greater focus on high-end luxury products.

Comfort will become an even more critical part of the Mercedes-Benz ethos, and the company aims to channel this through new mobility services and by reducing the pressure on the driver, says C&D.

It sounds like Mercedes-Benz is returning to the less complicated product lineup of the '80s and early '90s, but that's not the case.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

This year, Mercedes-AMG will introduce an all-new GT sports car sharing underpinnings with the new SL-Class. The SL lineup will also grow to accommodate a new Maybach offering, teased last year in May. The death of the CLS-Class and AMG GT 4-Door gives the impression that Benz is done with four-door coupes, but an entirely new version will arrive in 2026 as an electric vehicle.

Interestingly, that's the same time a new SL, said to have more room for passengers and cargo, will arrive. It will debut alongside a brand-new AMG GT - both will be battery-powered. Let's not forget that the recently revised CLA-Class will also make way for an electric replacement in 2025. This and a new off-roader called the GLG-Class will be underpinned by the MMA platform.

It's clear the Stuttgart-based brand is going through a revival, but we can't help but wonder if killing desirable models - wagons and coupes - is a good idea. We'll see in the coming years.