CLA versus New Class

Mercedes vs. BMW: battle for the crown of innovation

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Mercedes-Benz, BMW)

The eternal duel goes into the next round - and is now also being fought electrically. Almost simultaneously, Mercedes and BMW want to reinvent the electric car with the CLA and the New Class. A comparison.

The wheel they are currently turning in Stuttgart and Munich could hardly be bigger. Because when they talk about the CLA at Mercedes, they regularly talk about the most important model of these years and the most significant product offensive of the decade, while BMW Head of Development Frank Weber even calls the New Class perhaps the most important model in the company's history.

Of course, as always, this is a bit of an exaggeration. But even if the marketing is blowing off a lot of steam, the two new products from southern Germany are much more than just new cars. They stand for new generations of vehicles, for new approaches in development and design and for a rediscovered self-confidence that could lift the shaken German automotive industry a little.

Mercedes CLA

(Bild: Mercedes-Benz)

Leap in range, efficiency and charging performance
The expectations for the two cars could hardly be higher, says German e-fluence Stefan Moeller from Nextmove, who is hoping for more than just the usual progress in the generation change. "In terms of range, efficiency and charging performance, we're finally going to see another leap forward."

This is made possible here and there by 800-volt architectures, maximum wind resistance and drives that are more efficient than ever. BMW therefore promises 30 percent more range, 30 percent faster charging and 25 percent more efficiency, while Mercedes proudly speaks of the "one-liter car" for the Generation E. At best, the CLA consumes 12.2 kWh and achieves a standard range of 792 kilometers with its 85.5 kWh battery. And even if BMW has not yet given any concrete figures, Munich is talking about a consumption of "around 12 kWh".

BMW Vision New Class X, a preview of the first model of the "New Class"

(Bild: BMW)

Mercedes takes the lead for now
We will soon see how far Mercedes and BMW really jump in the end once both models are on the road. But Mercedes has won the first stage victory and is at least six months ahead of BMW with its premiere. While the Bavarians still have to hold the suspense until the IAA in September, Mercedes has now let the cat out of the bag and unveiled its new beacon of hope in Rome. And while BMW customers can count themselves lucky if they can sit in their car at the turn of the year, Mercedes boss Ola Källenius wants to have the CLA ready for the big vacations. After all, it's far enough for a vacation trip.

In terms of technology, both make a big leap forward - not only with the electric drive, but also with the electronics. This is because both cars are also running the first operating system of their own, which combines in a few central computers what is otherwise done by dozens, often hundreds of controllers in a vehicle. This gives the manufacturer greater control over the suppliers and a better chance of networking and means more upgrades and updates for customers. In short: "The car no longer gets older, it just gets better over the years like a good wine," says Källenius.

BMW with a revolutionary operating concept
But at BMW they don't want to leave it at that: Yes, the CLA is also taking a further step towards digitalization and is now getting a screen that spans (almost) the entire cockpit. But 20 years after the invention of the iDrive, BMW is completely rethinking the controls and installing the Panoramic Vision Display - a projection screen that takes up the entire lower edge of the windshield. Because there is also a new, rather restrained staging of a few switches, the BMW cockpit has a really fresh look and makes the brand-new CLA look rather old again.

Although the clash between the CLA and the New Class looks like a duel between two individual fighters, the title fight is played out as a team game in which several models have to prove themselves here and there. BMW is starting with an SUV to replace the previous iX3, followed by a saloon in the format of the 3 Series and soon all new models from Munich will benefit from the New Class. And at Mercedes, after the CLA as the first electric estate, there will be a Shooting Break, followed by two SUVs as successors to the GLA and GLB. Then they will scale up the MMA modular system as MB.EA for the larger models, which will make their debut with the electric GLC.

Will the Chinese now be left behind?
Mercedes or BMW; MMA or Neue Klasse - regardless of who comes out on top in the end, the class war in the south of Germany also sends an important signal to the rest of the world.long written off, the German car industry is now making a comeback and competing against Tesla and the Chinese with renewed courage and better cards than ever.

However, experts such as Arthur Kipferler from strategy consultants Berylls by AlixPartners in Munich do not want to paint such a black and white picture: "Of course, there have been many headlines about the technological superiority of the Chinese compared to the Germans," he admits. And at least in China, the sales figures also look the same: Germans are shrinking, Chinese are growing.

However, Kipferler does not attribute this solely to the supposedly superior technology: "I believe that China is instead experiencing a segment shift that is reversing what we have seen in Europe in recent decades." Here, the three premium brands have taken over an ever larger share of the market, with new models that were more expensive but offered no real product advantages over the volume models. "Because an Audi 80 wasn't really better than an Opel Vectra, a Mercedes A-Class wasn't really ahead of the VW Golf," says Kipferler. But leasing and financing made it possible for consumers to spend 'more' on their car. "The volume brands have therefore had to completely abandon some segments - and are now only a shadow of their former presence." In China, the local volume brands are acting in a similar way: they are stealing market share from the previous top dogs by offering customers what they particularly value - such as digital technologies, superficial performance and design - at a lower price.

Will the CLA or New Class be able to reverse this trend? Perhaps they won't go far enough or are probably just too expensive in the end. Of course, BMW and Mercedes will want to pay for their innovations and will not want to or be able to engage in a ruinous price war. But at least in Europe and the USA, the calculation could work out, says Kipferler: "The barriers to entry are much higher there, and that certainly doesn't just include import duties."

The Berylls expert therefore sees the two new models, which have been stylized as beacons of hope and lighthouse models, as important 'progress' for Mercedes and BMW in the Western core markets and considers the next innovative leap in the life cycle to be the highest priority. "But they alone will not solve the German manufacturers' problems in China."

And Germany also needs more than the new brilliance from the south: E-Fluencer and Nextmove boss Moeller pays tribute to the southern German premium suppliers for the great leap in development and acknowledges that BMW and Mercedes have made up some of the ground they have lost to the Chinese. However, this is not "the great salvation" for the German car industry or even electromobility in Germany. "Above all, we need affordable electric cars," says the expert. Of course, this is not the core business of the southern German premium brands, but something is slowly happening here too: "VW may be a few years too late, but with cars like the ID.2 and ID.1, they are at least on the right track and things are no longer looking quite so bleak for Germany as an automotive nation."(Benjamin Bessinger, SPX)