Mercedes‘ experiment with ultra-aerodynamic jelly bean designs for its electric models is coming to an end. Despite being mostly good cars, Mercedes’ electric EQ models haven’t been as loved as the German brand might have hoped and a big part of the problem seems to be their boring, nondescript designs. Especially when compared to the brand’s prettier, more exciting-looking combustion cars. So, moving forward, all cars wearing the three-pointed star will share a similar design language, regardless of powertrain.
Future Mercedes models will be built on its new powertrain-flexible MMA platform. Since it can handle both EVs and combustion engines, Mercedes can, in theory, make one design around either powertrain. So customers buying the electric version get the same style and pageantry as those buying the gas version.
Last year, Mercedes had to change the EQS sedan’s fake grille to look more like the gas-powered S-Class’ grille which seemed to be a step in the right direction. And the same goes for the inside, as the EQS not only isn’t as luxurious as the S-Class but it packs less rear-seat legroom. Despite both having “S” in their name, the electric car felt less grand, and that’s something Mercedes wants to change moving forward.
According to Mercedes, the new MMA platform will give its future cars “emotional design without compromising prestigious proportions.” Its new cars should also have “more interior space and layout without restrictions from two drivetrain concepts at once.” Both comments seem aimed squarely at the EQS sedan, both inside and out.
This is something Mercedes’ main German competitor has been saying for a while, though. BMW has been talking about its upcoming Neue Klasse platform for a couple of years now and, while it’s only going to be used for electric cars, the Bavarians don’t want its EVs looking much different from its gas-powered cars.
“The big push with EVs, these technologies and this design language, will transfer over the entire product portfolio, including our combustion vehicles. For the customer it won’t be difficult—they will all get new modern BMWs and they can choose the drivetrain,” Adrian van Hooydonk, head of design for the BMW Group, told Top Gear in October 2024.
But even BMW’s pre-Neue Klasse EVs mostly looked similar to its existing models, like the BMW i4, iX3, and iX. OK, so the i3 was weird but that was in the infancy of mass EV adoption, so it’s understandable that BMW wanted to experiment (the i3 was also rad and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise). Since then, though, BMW’s electric models have looked and felt far more conventional than anything Mercedes has put out in recent years.
Even most of Audi’s EVs have looked conventional. Many of them are indistinguishable from their gas-powered counterparts. It’s almost impossible to tell that the Audi Q8 e-tron is anything other than just another four-ringed SUV unless you look closely. Even its spiciest EV, the e-tron GT, looks like any other go-fast Audi sedan (albeit, a beautiful one).
It seems that the upcoming Mercedes CLA-Class will be its first MMA model. In its presentation, it shows one CLA design that can house either electric motors or a four-cylinder engine. But this new philosophy will be applied to all new Mercs as they develop, including its “entry” models like the CLA, its “core” like the C and E-Classes, and its “top-end” models, like the S-Class. That way, Mercedes can offer a BMW-like choice to its customers: pick a new Mercedes model and choose the drivetrain.
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