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I don’t know how “accessible” the S-class is when the base model is over $110,000 and the Maybach is $200,000+. I would guess that 95% of Americans can’t afford a $140,000 car. Which sort of goes to my original point, Mercedes has a customer base that will spend $140k on a sedan or $200k on a G-wagon. So they can make these expensive EV’s and not have a problem. Their challenge will be can they make an A class level EV that isn’t E-class pricing. I brought up the Hyundai/Kia because their small crossover EV’s are like $50k and the Sportage and Tucson are like $30k. If Hyundai kills off their ICE cars that’s a big leap for their customer base to take.

@smk4565 You already know as you can as well as I can if I wanted to waste any more time post the sales volume of Mercedes-Benz auto's by model from their own reporting page and it shows that MB makes the bulk of their sales and money from the low to middle class of auto sales and as has been posted way too many times, the E-Class Taxis sales across Europe and Asia. As such, Mercedes is a mass auto company that makes some money off selling a luxury product in small quantities and bulk off of mass low to mid level products. They are not a dedicated Luxury only Auto maker. END OF LINE!

They cater to a much larger sub-$50K audience (by a LOOOONG shot). Think about that before saying they are only playing one card here. You pretty much made @David 's point about volume.

Thank you for sharing this information, it gives more credibility if you also input the actual link to the facts, you have pulled together. Let me remind you that you have compared Mercedes to many brands here and in comparing them to Kia/Hyundai, or any other brand that makes them fair game for comparing to all brands. As such, Mercedes is trying to compete not as only a luxury brand but as a mass auto company with their A, B and Especially the poor C-Class of cars. This is reinforced by the fact that they have their truck division with selling commercial Vans and family Vans right alongside the A to S-Class of autos. Then they continue to try to compete against everyone in the mass auto market as they have A to S class SUV/CUVs on the market globally. Luxury is a brand that only is in a narrow niche and exclusive. Mass market is where you cover all levels of playing. There is actually 3 tiers in the Luxury market according to the industry. Accessible Luxury - Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Lincoln, Genesis, etc. Intermediary Luxury - Some of the same auto companies play here due to the luxury product is very exclusive and limited availability. In fact even Chevrolet and Toyota has played in this market with special limited releases of products. Inaccessible Luxury INACCESSIBLE LUXURY - This level is the most exclusive form of luxury. It is highly rare, very expensive, and accessible only by a handful of people. These products, mostly, are hand-crafted or tailored products. They make use of some of the most expensive and premium materials. These Inaccessible Luxury products are distributed through a few carefully selected channels. An Inaccessible Luxury product is all about exclusivity, heritage, craftsmanship, creativity and prestige. A few of the most popular Inaccessible Luxury products are Dior, Ferrari and Hermes as just a few examples. What Type Of Luxury Products Are You Offering - Agence Luxury Based on this, the S-Class is basic Accessible Luxury and Mercedes then plays in the Intermediary Luxury and plays allot in the markets below Luxury. An example of this is how the S-Class and EQS both have their expensive top of the line dash now also available in the E-Class and EQE lines and Mercedes has stated as costs come down they will push it down stream into additional models. As such, Mercedes Plays in the Mass Auto Market.

And I'd say that you are comparing gas powered apples to EV powered oranges, never mind the obvious cherry picking but since you want to go there... ...for the thousandth time, the Tesla Model S is classified as FULL SIZE/Executive Luxury car and IS DIRECT COMPETITOR TO THE S-CLASS, no matter how many times you talk about exterior dimensions between it and the S-Class, thus outselling the EQS and S-Class combined. Furthermore, your claims about volume and luxury clearly did not get sent to Tesla as they seem to be doing both, selling luxury and in volume. Maybe you should just consider putting wheels on that goalpost next time. Would save a whole lot of work, what it moving it around so much.

I said full size luxury car, of which the EQS is the #2 seller. It does tremendous volume for the segment it is in. And I am comparing ICE and EV because a sale is a sale. If Toyota sells 10 million cars a year and Rivian sells 50,000, I don’t want to hear about how Rivian is beating Toyota because they sold more EV’s this year. The EQE is about 1-2 inches shorter than a Model S, the EQS is like 10 inches longer. The EQE is Mercedes’ Model S competitor, the EQC sedan will be the Model 3 competitor when it gets here.

Full size luxury car I said. That would be the S-class, EQS, 7-series, A8, Lexus LS, Jaguar XJ (which I think is discontinued now), Genesis G90, maybe you could throw the Panamera in there, but that isn't really a full size car. The Taycan and Model S are not full size cars. Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls Royces obviously are full size too.

You are trying to compare a mass market company vs a luxury brand that does less volume. The EQS outsold the Genesis G90, the BMW 7-Series, Audi A8, Lexus LS in the first half the of the year, their Q3 numbers aren't released yet, as I just checked. The EQS is doing well if it is beating its gasoline counterparts. Also I am looking more 5 years out. In 5 years time if an Ioniq 5 is $10k more than an Equinox EV how does that work for Hyundai? The bulk of Hyundai's customers buy Elantras and Tucsons that are sub $30,000.