Mercedes-Benz EQC discounted by up to $39,000 in runout

Just 52 examples of the Mercedes-Benz EQC remain available in Australia and with production of the pioneering mid-size luxury electric SUV now finished, there are some huge savings to be had on the German brand’s first battery-electric model.

How big are those savings? Approaching $39,000 for some vehicles, depending on how closely you look at the original and final prices, which equates to a discount of almost 25 per cent – about a quarter of the normal drive-away price.

The biggest difference we saw on Mercedes-Benz Australia’s website while compiling this report was $38,736 (from an original price of $159,846 down to just $121,110 drive-away) and this was by no means an outlier.

More than half of the advertised EQC vehicles were discounted by more than $20,000 and at least a dozen by more than $30,000.

Discounts of this scale are rare in today’s auto industry these days and place the four-year-old EV in the same price territory as premium mid-size electric SUVs like the Genesis GV70 Electrified.

Australian pricing for the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 4MATIC was announced at $137,900 plus on-road costs in November 2019 , ahead of its release the following month.

Since then Mercedes-Benz has sold 1052 examples of the EQC – which now faces stiff opposition from the all-conquering Tesla Model Y, as well as the BMW iX3, Hyundai IONIQ 5, Kia EV6 and Lexus RZ – and released several new EVs including the EQA, EQB, EQE, EQE SUV, EQS and EQE SUV.

But although it’s getting a bit long in the tooth now, the 2020 carsales Car of the Year Contender can still hold its own in terms of firepower and driving range, packing 300kW/760Nm and capable of covering up to 430km on a single charge.

At the heart of its dual-motor powertrain is an 80kWh lithium-ion battery capable of being charged at up to 110kW when using DC power, however, Mercedes says this is enough to add 220km of range in about half an hour.

But the pioneering EV will likely be the first Mercedes-Benz EQ model to be replaced and the second-generation EQC has already been spied testing in Europe, ahead of its expected reveal in Europe sometime in 2025.

That means we probably won’t see it Down Under until 2026, by which time most combustion-powered Mercedes models – and all of its SUVs – will be available in EV form, and that the EQB will likely soldier on as the three-pointed star brand’s only mid-size electric SUV for the next couple of years.

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