Mercedes-Benz Group‘s CEO Ola Källenius said automakers are ultimately headed toward “zero emissions,” even as the electric vehicle market faces slowing demand and regulatory uncertainty.
“In my prediction, for the next 10 plus, maybe 15 or even longer, we’re going to have different swim lanes. We as car companies will serve those swim lanes,” Källenius said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday.
“But the destination we’re ultimately going toward is zero emissions,” the CEO added.
Källenius defended that the transition will not be linear, noting that Mercedes sells vehicles in more than 150 countries with varying levels of EV adoption.
“To expect that transformation to be a straight line where everything happens at the same pace, that is unrealistic,” he said. “All markets will have to find a new equilibrium.”
Källenius said his own view on EVs shifted after driving them regularly.
“The last few years, I have been driving electric vehicles and the power performance, but also the quietness of those vehicles, is unbelievable,” he said.
Product Offensive
The comments follow remarks Källenius made in December to German outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung, in which he said Mercedes has “maintained the electric offensive and not postponed it.”
“We will launch the second phase next year,” he said at the time, adding that the CLA would be the first model.
“And over the next three to four years, we will have a product offensive like we’ve never had before at Mercedes — from the bottom to the top in electric cars, but also in electrified combustion vehicles.”
Källenius told ABC that a high-performance electric AMG model is also coming.
“For the hardcore performance fans, we’re going to launch next year a whole new high-performance electric AMG car. That will blow your mind,” he said. “And if you want it to sound like a V8, you can do that too.”
The AMG GT EV will be equipped with three electric motors totaling 1,341 horsepower.
The four door Coupe is expected to be priced above $200,000.
Customer Choice
While manufacturers can lead the transition, Källenius emphasized that customers will ultimately shape the pace of electrification.
“You have a choice, you are the customer,” he said. “So we’re not going to mandate what you like. You decide what you like and we deliver.”
Mercedes-Benz sold 168,800 fully electric passenger vehicles in 2025, a 9% decline from 185,100 units in 2024.
Plug-in hybrid sales rose 9% to 368,600 units. New energy vehicles accounted for nearly 30% of global sales, totaling 537,400 units.
The Stuttgart-based automaker initially targeted 100% fully electric sales by 2030 but reset that goal to 50% in February 2024.
US Sales Performance
The EV market faced headwinds last year, particularly in the United States, where slowing consumer demand, high production costs, and the expiration of federal tax credits weighed on sales.
The $7,500 credit for new EVs and $4,000 credit for used models expired in September.
Total US EV sales fell 46% sequentially and 36% year-over-year to 234,000 units in the fourth quarter, according to Cox Automotive data — the lowest quarterly result since late 2022.
Källenius joined Daimler-Benz AG more than three decades ago, working at AMG and in Formula 1 before becoming CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management in 2019.
