Mercedes Design Boss Says Focus This Decade Is 60 Percent On SUVs

In early February, a worrying report claimed Mercedes is preparing to pull the plug on several cars. The C-Class Estate will allegedly not live to see another generation while the next-gen E-Class Estate will be the last of its kind. In addition, the sleek CLS sedan is apparently going away, and so will the confusingly named AMG GT 4-Door Coupe. In addition, we've known for a while the three-pointed star will cut some of its compact cars.

Rumor has it the Mercedes C-Class Coupe and Convertible together with the E-Class Coupe and Convertible will be axed. In their place, Mercedes is believed to launch a CLE Coupe and CLE Convertible, therefore halving the number of two-door models. This would come after the cancellation of the Mercedes S-Class Coupe and S-Class Convertible as well as the SLC.

Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener sat down and had a chat with Car Magazine about what the future has in tow for the fabled German luxury brand. When asked about what the design team is working on, he said 60 percent of the effort this decade will be dedicated to SUVs. 30 percent of the time will be spent on sedans and the remaining 10 percent on special projects.

That last 10 percent will be partially about sports cars as well as crossovers between body styles. The 54-year-old design head honcho said a low-slung sedan is a possibility, pointing toward the F 015 concept unveiled back in 2015. Interestingly, Gorden Wagener said people working from Apple told him “That’s exactly what we had in mind and is so cool but I don’t know what they will actually come up with.” By the way, after many years of rumors, the Apple Car is still a no-show.

Although not mentioned in the interview, lest we forget a truly strange concept car from Mercedes. We’re talking about the China-oriented 2018 Maybach Ultimate Luxury serving as a peculiar half-sedan, half-SUV contraption. It never saw the light of production day. The design boss did say something similar to the F 015 might happen at some point.