Mercedes to build 3 new models in China this year

Mercedes-Benz will assemble its first full-electric vehicle, first AMG performance car and an additional gasoline crossover at its joint venture with BAIC Motor Co. this year, complying with local rules requiring automakers to expand electrified vehicle output. 

The three vehicles are the EQC electric crossover, the elongated AMG A35 and the GLB crossover, according to information BAIC, a Hong Kong-listed company, disclosed in its mid-2019 financial report.

The EQC will become the first locally produced electric crossover to be marketed under a luxury brand in China. 

Mercedes sells Germany-built AMG cars in China. 

The GLB will become Mercedes' third locally produced crossover sold in the market, following the GLA and GLC. 

It’s unclear when the three new locally produced models will go on sale in China.

Local production also enables Mercedes to avoid paying tariffs at Chinese customs. 

In addition to the GLA and GLC, Mercedes assembles stretched A-, C- and E-class sedans at its partnership in Beijing. 

In the first six months of 2019, Beijing Mercedes-Benz, the joint venture headquartered in the Chinese capital of Beijing, delivered about 282,000 locally produced vehicles in China, a jump of 12 percent from the same period last year.

Mercedes also assembles three vans -- the Vito, Sprinter and V class -- at a separate partnership with BAIC in Fuzhou, capital of east China’s Fujian province. In the first half, Fujian Mercedes-Benz, the van joint venture, sold roughly 13,000 vans, a drop of 9.3 percent year on year.

Behind robust sales at its car joint venture with BAIC, Mercedes' China deliveries edged up 1.3 percent to 344,657 in the first six months. The number includes the German luxury brand’s imported vehicle sales.