Mercedes-Benz move to electrification could come at the cost of wagons – report

Mercedes-Benz might have set an execution date for its wagon models, according to European reports.

Declining sales of long-roof models come during a tough time for supporters of the body style, as manufacturers invest heavily in high-riding SUVs and electric vehicles (EVs) to cope with surging demand.

As reported by German publication Automobilwoche, Mercedes-Benz's biggest markets – the United States and China – have low demand for wagon variants of existing models while interest in EVs is booming, forcing the manufacturer to throw its resources behind the latter.

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However, despite the impending end of wagons as we know them, Mercedes revealed its C-Class Estate All-Terrain last year – a Europe-only release which jacked up the ride height, increased the suspension travel and added plastic guards to the mid-size model.

In Australia, only a handful of C-Class variants can be purchased as an estate, with the C200, C300, C43 AMG and C63 AMG all available in long-roof form.

Stuttgart's investment in EVs is no surprise, having already announced all new models for Europe will be electrified from 2025 as it looks to go fully-electric by 2030, although this will exclude markets where demand for internal combustion engines is high, coupled with low policy-based support for EVs.

Across Mercedes-Benz's passenger and commercial vehicle sub-brands, its investment in electric technology is expected to exceed exceed €40 billion (AU$63.8B) between now and the 2030 target date – around a quarter of parent company Daimler's annual profit in 2020.