In an interview with Autocar, Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius was asked how the company plans to fight the coming Chinese competition in Europe. After confidently saying that the recently unveiled Concept CLA sedan previewed a model "it's hard to find a car that can beat that," the Mercedes boss talked about safety.
"No company has a longer, deeper safety pedigree than Mercedes. You can go to an insurance company or safety rating agency and pick up some stars. We always say one star is enough: the Mercedes star. We do a whole range of tests nobody else does. We crash our vehicles, we crash competitor vehicles and we have a feeling for what works and what doesn’t."
He went on to mention that the attention to detail during development gives the three-pointed star brand an advance over its Chinese rivals, which is why he's not worried about new makes and models coming to Europe.
During the same interview, Källenius reiterated Mercedes is working on futureproofing its lineup by spending "double-digit billions of euros" on next-generation electric vehicles. The company has already said it wants to go purely electric as early as 2030 "where market conditions allow." However, it's not bidding adieu to gasoline and diesel engines just yet as the head honcho says hybrid "high-tech ICE vehicles" will be necessary in the next decade.
Source: Autocar
