German premium car manufacturer is likely to completely axe the manual transmission option on Mercedes-Benz cars. The step is likely to be a cost-cutting measure as the brand will streamline its processes. The step to eliminating manual transmissions from the engine line-up will have a substantial reduction in platforms. In the Indian market, Mercedes-Benz does not sell Manual Transmission option on its vehicles. Since the 2015 SLK250, the brand has not sold manual transmission vehicles in the US as well. But the brand still sells manual transmission cars in the European market. It is speculated that there are still a million of them on the roads.
The brand has not made any statements on the discontinuation of the manual gearboxes, but the decision could be due to the steady trend shift towards Hybrid powertrains with automatic transmissions and fully electric powertrains that only have a single shift or two-speed transmission. The brand has also launched its first production-series 100% electric SUV in the Indian market at the price of INR 99.30 lakh ex-showroom – dubbed the Mercedes-Benz EQC.
The Mercedes-Benz EQC is powered by two asynchronous electric motors, one on each axle matched to an 85 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that produces 408 HP of power and 765 Nm of torque connected to a 4MATIC driveline. The electric SUV returns a driving range of 471 km on a single charge. The EQC can be charged using a standard 2.4 kWh home connection at the rate of 7.4 kW max charging capacity which takes 21 hours, a 7.4 kW wall-box charger provided by Mercedes-Benz takes 10 hours and 50 kW DC fast chargers that takes 90 minutes to charge from 10% SOC to 100% State of Charge.
Mercedes-Benz also plans to add 10+ electric cars across multiple segments. The brand also estimates that the Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle market share will grow to around 15% to 25% and nearly 50% of car sales will include either 100% EV or PHEV vehicles by 2030.