Mercedes to show all-electric hatchback concept this fall, countering Audi: reportMercedes to show all-electric hatchback concept this fall, countering Audi: report

German luxury carmakers often follow each other’s product plans in something close to lockstep.
Let one maker—BMW, say—introduce a new category of vehicle—sport utility “coupes,” say—and soon Mercedes-Benz and Audi will have their own too.
And the premium brands appear to be following the same playbook for the expanding lineups of long-range electric cars they will start rolling out next year.
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It’s become clear that Audi, the luxury brand of VW Group, will launch the production version of the e-tron all-electric crossover utility vehicle sometime next year, likely as a 2019 model.
It will be followed by the e-tron Sportback in 2019, essentially a lower and somewhat racier version of the same car.
Then, in 2020, the third all-electric Audi will be a compact hatchback about the size of its current A3 e-tron Sportback plug-in hybrid.
Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ Concept, 2016 Paris auto showMercedes-Benz Generation EQ Concept, 2016 Paris auto showMercedes-Benz Generation EQ Concept, 2016 Paris auto show
Now, it seems Mercedes-Benz is planning a similar lineup, according to a report in the British outlet Autocar.
The company is said to be planning to show a concept version of an all-electric hatchback at this fall’s Frankfurt auto show.
To be called the EQ A, it’s an entry-level electric car thought to be slated for production in 2020, a year after Mercedes’ first all-electric model hits the road.
READ THIS: After Audi e-tron, next electric car to be compact BMW i3 competitor
It’s already known that Daimler’s luxury automaking unit will put into production the all-electric EQ crossover utility vehicle it showed as a concept last fall at the Paris auto show.
Likely hitting the roads in 2019, that vehicle will face off almost directly against the Audi e-tron coming next year—and against the Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover coming next year as well.
Both of those vehicles, of course, compete against the electric Tesla Model X that’s been rolling off the lines in Fremont, California, since late 2015.
Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept, 2016 Paris auto show
The plans of the third member of the German trio, BMW, remain unclear.
It was the first of the three to launch a battery-electric car, with its small i3 hatchback in 2013, but now it appears to be focusing on an all-electric version of the next generation of its 3-Series sport sedan, along with plug-in hybrid variants of virtually every volume model in its lineup.
CHECK OUT: Mercedes to launch 10 electric cars by 2025 under EQ sub-brand
The smaller Mercedes electric hatchback, meanwhile, will be built on the company’s upcoming Modular Electric Architecture, which also underpins the EQ C crossover.
Both vehicles will feature conventional proportions, with a traditional hood despite the lack of an engine underneath—a different approach than that taken by Jaguar, whose I-Pace has a shorter hood and a longer passenger compartment.
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