Car industry Mercedes sells fewer vehicles

Weak demand continues to depress Mercedes-Benz sales figures. The Stuttgart-based company's e-cars in particular are selling significantly less.

Mercedes-Benz also sold fewer vehicles in the third quarter of the year than in the same period last year. From July to September, 594,600 cars and vans were sold. This was around three percent less than in the third quarter of 2023, the car manufacturer announced. In total, the Stuttgart-based company has sold 1.76 million vehicles so far this year - five percent fewer than in the same period last year.

Mercedes suffered a significant decline in vans: With just over 91,000 vehicles sold, the drop amounted to 13 percent. With 503,600 vehicles sold, the passenger car segment recorded a decline of one percent compared to the third quarter of 2023. In the top product segment - which includes the S-Class - the figures reportedly fell by 12 percent.

The Group had recently looked to the second half of the year with more confidence, partly due to the launch of new models. Compared to the previous quarter, passenger car sales rose slightly, partly due to better product availability. However, weaker demand - particularly in Asia - outweighed this. In the important Chinese car market, sales fell by 13 percent. However, with 170,700 vehicles, Mercedes still sold more than a third of its cars there.

E-car sales slump by almost a third

Mercedes also recorded a decline in sales of fully electric cars. At 42,500 units, sales in this segment fell by 31 percent. This means that around one in twelve cars sold in the third quarter was an all-electric vehicle. At the beginning of the year, almost one in ten cars sold was a fully electric vehicle.

The market environment for electric vehicles remains subdued in key markets, according to the company. According to the report, sales of plug-in hybrids rose by ten percent worldwide in the third quarter - mainly driven by the US market.

SDA