South Africa is the only major market in the world that levies higher import taxes on EVs than on petrol-powered cars, says Mercedes-Benz’s Mark Raine.
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Mercedes-Benz South Africa co-CEO Mark Raine predicts in this episode of TC|Daily that more than half of the company’s car sales locally by the end of 2026 will be full electrics.
Mercedes-Benz aims to produce electric cars consuming as little as 10kWh of energy per 100km, its chief technology officer said.
The longer-term future of Mercedes-Benz’s production plant in East London has been secured by investments to ensure its flexibility to produce vehicles with different powertrains.
Mercedes-Benz plans to invest more than €40-billion by 2030 to be ready to take on Tesla in an all-electric car market, but warned the shift in technology would lead to job cuts.
Mercedes-Benz is bolstering the C-Class line-up with versions that carry more powerful batteries to help its popular sedan withstand a trend toward sports utility vehicles.
Ford will plough over $1-billion into a plant in South Africa – its biggest-ever investment in the country – as the car maker scales back in other regions including Brazil and Europe.
If Apple is going to make a success of its car project, it has to target the $230-billion luxury automobile market. But displacing 125-year-old incumbents like Mercedes-Benz won’t be straightforward.
A good decade after Nokia’s mobile phone business suffered a fatal blow at the hands of the iPhone, the Finnish company is still feeding off a lucrative asset that it salvaged from the wreckage.
For decades, the Mercedes S-Class has defined the gold standard in luxury sedans. But as consumers gravitate toward SUVs and electric cars define cutting-edge technology, Daimler must prove its flagship remains relevant.