Mercedes Benz sold fewer vehicles in the first quarter of the year than in the same period last year. With 568,400 cars and vans sold, that was a decline of 6 percent, the car manufacturer announced on Wednesday in Stuttgart. The passenger car division recorded a decline of 8 percent with 463,000 vehicles sold. In the case of vans, however, an increase of 7 percent was achieved with 105,400 vehicles.
Delivery bottlenecks in Asia are weighing on sales
The decline in passenger cars is primarily due to model changes and restrictions in the supply chain in Asia, which “temporarily significantly dampened sales” in the first quarter, Mercedes-Benz said. In China The decline (-12 percent) is primarily due to the ramp-up of the E-Class with a long wheelbase, whose sales are expected to increase in the coming quarters, according to the car manufacturer. With 168,900 vehicles, Mercedes still sold more than one in three cars on the Chinese market, which is so important for the company.
Mercedes also recorded a decline in fully electric cars. Sales in this area fell by 8 percent to 47,500 units. Around every tenth car sold in the first quarter was a purely electric car.
BMW sales are growing with electric cars and expensive models
BMW Meanwhile, sold around 595,000 cars in the first quarter, 1.1 percent more than a year ago. Growth drivers were fully electric vehicles as well as highly motorized and Luxury cars, as the company announced. The number of battery cars (BEVs) sold rose by almost 28 percent to 82,700. Sales of cars in the upper price segment rose by almost 22 percent. With different types of drive, BMW can respond to changing customer needs. It is now clear that this strategy is proving successful, said Sales Director Jochen Goller.
In Europe, demand for Munich-based cars grew by 5.5 percent to around 228,000. In the USA Sales rose by 1.2 percent to around 91,000 cars. In the important Chinese market, however, deliveries fell by 3.8 percent to around 187,000 cars. Sales of the Mini brand fell worldwide by 9.4 percent to just under 83,000 vehicles. The company announced that preparations for the market launch of the new Mini family were in full swing.