The Tesla Model Y has been the electric SUV to beat for the past couple of years, and in Europe, where the Y is the best-selling car of any shape or power type, rivals can’t get close to matching its sales numbers.
But life for the Model Y will get increasingly difficult over the next few years. Not only will it soon find itself under fire from Chinese brands expanding outside of China for the first time, but the established luxury car brands Tesla stole customers from are fighting back.
BMW is getting ready to launch the first EV to use its Neue Klasse platform, an electric SUV that could be called iX3. And Mercedes is putting the finishing touches to the EV you see here, the 2026 EQC SUV (or GLC EV, as some sources refer to it). The EQC badge has been around since 2018, but just as the current European BMW iX3, which isn’t sold in the U.S., is merely an electrified X3, today’s EQC is simply an EV-converted version of the combustion GLC SUV. The next EQC, though, will switch to an EV-centric platform that should make the Mk2 SUV far more competitive.
Related: Mercedes EQS Is Missing The Mark According To Dealers And Sales Data
Moving to a dedicated problem should mean big gains in cabin and luggage space thanks to the superior packaging, but it might also bring reductions in curb weight that will make the new EV far sharper to drive, faster in a straight line and able to eek more miles from a kilowatt of charge. True, the platform has also been designed to accommodate combustion engines, but this time it’s the electric cars that have been given priority at the planning and engineering stage, and the ICE versions that have had to accept the compromises.
This prototype unfortunately doesn’t seem to be wearing any less camouflage than the last one we saw back in the summer, and it’s hard to get a clear idea of the design details. But the camo can’t hide the flared hips, flush door handles and fairly sporty roofline on this next EQC. We’re sticking with the EQC name to make things simple, but it sounds like Mercedes won’t be according to reports from the beginning of this year that said the automaker was preparing to ditch its (sometimes confusing and convoluted) EQ naming strategy.
Made in the USA
Regardless of the name Mercedes chooses for it, reports indicate that the EV will be manufactured at Mercedes’ 6-million-square-foot Vance, Alabama plant. According to supply chain sources who spoke to Autonews this week, Mercedes plans to shift production of the flagship EQS SUV from Alabama to make room for the new EQC (or GLC EV). Production of the EQS SUV is set to move to Bremen, Germany, in the second half of the decade.
