The Chinese market recovery and a year-on-year quadrupled demand for plug-in hybrids (PHEV) saw Mercedes-Benz deliver more than a million cars and vans in the first half of 2020.
European PHEV demand quadrupled in the first half of 2020 in comparison to the previous corresponding period.
In the second quarter the company enjoyed its best car sales yet in China with an increase of more than 21%. Sales of commercially-used vans rose in the second quarter in China by 35%.
“The current number of xEV orders received by Mercedes-Benz Cars is also a positive sign for the second half of the year: in the next six months, we anticipate a significant sales effect from our ongoing electric offensive,” says Mercedes-Benz AG board member for marketing and sales Britta Seeger.
“Mercedes-Benz’s best second quarter to date in China shows the impressive speed at which demand is currently recovering in our largest market,” Seeger says.
The company says it further intensified its customer contact in the second quarter using numerous digital services and tools.
In June, global car deliveries were again slightly above the previous year’s level (+0.6%).
In the USA, the company took the leading position among luxury car brands in terms of unit sales in the first half of the year. In the Asia-Pacific region, it achieved a new sales record from April to June.
Seeger says COVID-19 certainly impacted deliveries in Europe and North American from April to June. But she says now that the dealerships have opened around the globe, dealer feedback is positive about online activity and the company is optimistic about the sales trends in the third quarter.
Mercedes-Benz sold 935,089 passenger cars in the first half of the year which is a 17.6% decline.
Switching to purely battery-electric drive had a significant year on year sales impact on the Smart brand. Globally, 10,101 two-door and four-door urban microcars were sold in the first half of 2020, a decline of 83.3%.
The combined deliveries of 945,190 Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and Smart EVs in the first half of the year were down by 20.9%.
The global COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted sales of Mercedes-Benz Vans in the first half of 2020.
Lockdown measures in April and May, led to a 25.6% decrease in unit sales in the first half of the year compared with the previous year period. A total of 125,946 units of the Sprinter, Vito, Vito Tourer and Citan were sold in the first half of the year.
“It is pleasing that the market in China has recovered so quickly and that we were able to increase unit sales of our commercial vans there by 35%,” Mercedes-Vans head Marcus Breitschwerdt says.
“We are continuing to push ahead with the electrification of our products. In the second quarter, the eSprinter and the EQV became available for order and will trigger additional demand.
“We are also optimistic that our Marco Polo models will win new customers in the motorhome segment,” he says.
Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales by region and market
In Europe, Mercedes-Benz delivered 313,490 cars in the period from January to June (-31.5%).
In Germany, Mercedes-Benz sold 106,167 units in the first half of the year (-27.9%). In its domestic market, it had the most new-car registrations among the luxury car brands in the first six months of the year.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the brand had its best second quarter to date with unit sales of 259,404 passenger cars (+8.9%).
Chinese sales of 207,107 units were more than 35,000 units above the previous record for a second quarter (+21.6%). Sales from January to June were in China also above previous year (+0.4%).
Deliveries in the North America region totalled 146,538 units since the beginning of the year (-16.0%). In the region’s core market, the USA, Mercedes-Benz delivered 127,207 passenger cars in the first half of 2020 (-13.7%).
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