Demand for battery electric (BEV) and Top-End segment vehicles lifted sales of Mercedes-Benz Cars by 6%, to 515,700 units in the second quarter, and by 5% to 1,019,200 units in the first half of 2023. Sales were boosted by solid demand in Germany and the United States in particular. Mercedes-Benz continues to remain disciplined, even in a dynamic market environment.
Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars battery electric vehicle sales rose to 56,300 units in Q2, a 123% increase compared with the prior-year quarter, underscoring the priority of scaling EV’s. This increase was mainly driven by the demand for the EQA (+73%) and EQB (+83%) and the EQE Sedan (+157%). In the first six months of 2023, Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars sold 102,600 BEV’s worldwide (+121%). Fully electric vehicles now account for 11% of overall sales year-to-date. Including plug-in hybrids Mercedes-Benz sold 187,600 electrified vehicles (+36%), corresponding to a global xEV-share of 18% at the end of June. The U.S. market continued its transformation towards electric cars with a rise in the share of Mercedes-Benz battery electric vehicles to 16% at the end of June, compared to 3% in the first half of last year. Mercedes-Benz announced last week that customers in North America will gain access to the Tesla Supercharger network, another step towards accelerating the shift to electric vehicles.
„With our focus on sustainable growth we posted higher sales across all main regions and segments - especially for our electric and Top-End vehicles. Our pipeline of desirable products remains fresh, for example with the introduction of the new E-Class and CLE. The transformation of our sales network continues with the successful introduction of the direct sales model in Germany and Turkey in Q2, following the UK earlier this year.”
Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing and Sales
Top-End
Sales in the Top-End segment rose by 12% to 84,800 units in Q2 and 15% to 176,600 vehicles in the first six months of 2023. Mercedes-AMG increased global sales by 19% to 38,000 units in the second quarter, supported by a strong SUV segment and launches of the AMG derivatives of the C-Class and SL. Demand for the iconic G-Class remains high and sales increased by 29% to 11,000 units in the second quarter. In April 2023, the 500,000th model of the legendary Mercedes‑Benz G-Class rolled off the production line in Graz. Mercedes-Maybach lifted global sales by 39% to 6,500 vehicles in Q2 and was able to further expand its customer base, especially in the U.S. market. The brand will further upgrade its series models with an optional Night Series package. The Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV has been introduced in all key regions, with 10,900 units sold in the first half of 2023.
Core
Sales in the Core segment were up 2% to 276,600 units in the second quarter. Sales of the E-Class increased by 11% in Q2 to 73,000 units and reached 146,300 units (+2%) in the first six months. Sales of the EQE Sedan more than doubled to 9,000 units (+157%) and sales of its SUV sibling, the EQE SUV reached 10,000 units in Q2. In the second half of the year, the global ramp up of the new GLC, E-Class and CLE models will continue.
Entry
Sales in the Entry segment increased by 11% to 154,100 units in Q2 and even grew 19% in the first half of 2023, reaching 317,500 vehicles. The recently upgraded CLA saw sales rise 31% to 21,700 units in Q2. First-half sales of compact SUVs GLA and GLB reached 65,100 units (+19%) and 74,700 units (+23%) respectively. Together with its electric versions EQA (+69%) and EQB (+125%), the compact SUVs accounted for more than half of sales in this segment in the January to June period. Mercedes-Benz Passenger Car BEV-share rose to 15% in this segment in the first half of 2023 compared to 9% a year-earlier.
Sales by regions and markets
Sales of Mercedes-Benz Cars increased across all main regions in the second quarter and the first half of 2023.
In Europe sales were up 5% to 157,100 units in Q2 and reached 321,000 units (+7%) in the first half of the year. The growth in the first six months was supported by strong sales in the Top-End segment (+28%) and fully electric Mercedes-Benz passenger Cars (+62%), boosted by the EQE Sedan with 7,000 units (+129%). The BEV-share in Europe increased to 18% year-to-date compared to 14% in the same period last year. Second-quarter sales in Germany (+23%) were strong in all segments; from Entry (+28%), Core (+19%) to the Top-End (+26%). Battery electric vehicle sales increased to 20,000 units (+31%) in the first half, reaching a share of 17% of overall Mercedes-Benz Cars sales in the German market. In Belgium, sales increased to 9,000 units (+15%) in the second quarter mainly due to a surge of battery electric vehicles (+186%).
In Asia sales increased 10% to 239,200 units in the second quarter, and to 486,900 units (+7%) in the first half. In China Q2 sales grew by 12% driven by the E-Class (+43%) and the GLB (+77%). Japan saw sales rising to 12,800 units (+16%) in Q2, mainly due to a strong Top-End segment (+49%) and BEV sales (+734%) after the market introduction of EQB, EQE and EQS. In South Korea, sales increased by 5% in the second quarter to 22,300 units, with a rise of Top-End vehicles to 8,400 units (+28%), representing 38% of overall Mercedes-Benz Cars sales in the market. Sales in India grew by 8% and reached a new record with 3,800 units in Q2, driven by strong sales of GLE (+138%) and GLS (+51%). Top-End sales in India increased by 54%, reaching 2,000 units in the first half of the year.
In North America sales reached 98,800 units (+3%) in Q2 and 173,900 units (+2%) in the first six months. Sales in the U.S. grew by 6% to 88,100 units in Q2 thanks to a surge in BEV sales (+697%) and Top-End vehicles (+43%). Battery electric vehicle sales in the U.S. reached 23,800 units (+505%) in the first six months thanks in part to the availability of the new EQS SUV variant. Sales of the Top-End segment reached 55,800 units (+35%) in the first half of 2023, driven by Mercedes-AMG (+65%), Mercedes-Maybach (+333%) and G-Class (+110%).
Year-to-date sales in the rest of world category (-18%), are below prior-year, due to Mercedes-Benz's decision to stop its business activities in Russia from March 2022 onwards. In the second quarter sales were impacted by seasonal effects. In Turkey sales increased by 21% to 6,100 units in Q2 after the introduction of the direct sales model.
