Mercedes EQ models to be built in Bremen

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Mercedes confirms its intelligent drive models will roll off its north west German plant line; the first SUV model will arrive in 2019, followed by a saloon

Production for the first Mercedes EQ electric model will begin at the firm’s Bremen plant in less than three years. Mercedes confirmed that the north west German site will be responsible for all model’s featuring intelligent drive technologies, the first of which will be an SUV to roll off the production line in 2019. This primary EQ model will be inspired by the EQ concept of the Paris motor show. It was a 402bhp four-wheel-drive electrically powered SUV.

We’ve already told you about Mercedes’s grand plans for its new EQ sub brand, with up to 10 new electric models set to be launched. But according to Gorden Wagener, Daimler’s head of design, we won’t have to wait long for other versions to appear, with a saloon set to follow the launch of the first SUV.

The Generation EQ concept that was shown at the Paris show is about “90%” similar to its production sister, Wagener told us, saying that only details like the lack of door mirrors and door handles would be tackled before production. The front and rear end treatment – with a “grille” that’s illuminated from behind – will make production in both the first EQ SUV and then it’s sister models. “That will be the defining look,” Wagener said. Based on Mercedes’s recent patent registrations, the first car looks likely to carry EQG branding.

We can expect to see a saloon version next, probably one aimed squarely at the Tesla Model S. “We will start with the main segments, saloons and SUVs,” Wagener said, “this is the first of its kind, it’s a starting point. Of course, we’ve already progressed a little bit further internally. This car will be fairly soon on the market and then we will welcome other generations.”

Wagener also acknowledged that these will, ultimately, include both lower and sportier models, insisting it will be possible to produce these even with the packaging constraints of the under-floor battery pack that will sit beneath every EQ.