The continued very difficult situation in China caused the car manufacturer Mercedes’ sales figures to fall in the third quarter. The Baden-Württemberg company sold 441,500 cars between June and September, twelve percent less than in the same period last year. In addition to the problems in the world’s largest car market, US President Donald Trump’s customs policy also played a role in the reduced sales: In order to avoid taxes, Mercedes sent many more vehicles to the United States in the first few months of this year before the tariffs came into force shipped than usual, so dealers’ warehouses are currently full. In the USA, Mercedes sold 17 percent fewer cars in the third quarter, and in China it was even 27 percent fewer than in the previous year. Mathias Geisen, who has been on the board of directors responsible for sales since February, hopes that the Mercedes CLA, which was presented in the spring, and especially the GLC, which was presented a few days ago at the IAA Mobility in Munich, will initiate a turnaround in sales figures in the coming months. “We continue to receive excellent feedback for the electric CLA; the new model has led to a growth in electric vehicles of 22 percent compared to the previous quarter,” said Geisen on the occasion of the current sales figures. More on the topic However, the truth is that, despite good sales figures from dealers shortly after the market launch, it is still far from clear how sustainable the success with customers really is. In addition, the new CLA has at best stopped falling electric sales, as Mercedes sold a similar number of cars last year. Mercedes is dependent on the success of the CLA and the GLC, which will be available from 2026, in order to stabilize the poor business figures again. In 2024, sales in the automotive division fell by 4.4 percent to 107 billion euros, and operating profit (EBIT) fell by around 40 percent to less than nine billion euros, which corresponds to a return on sales of 8.1 percent. The year before it was 12.6 percent. And in the first half of 2025, the numbers continued to worsen.
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