Mercedes-Benz delivered 180,539 vehicles to its customers all over the world in January (-6.7%). The second-best start to a year for sales was influenced by important model changes in the high-volume SUV and compact-car segments. In particular, the model change of the B-Class, CLA and GLE, each with a double-digit sales decrease, had a negative impact on total unit sales worldwide despite the ongoing high demand for the cars with the star. From today’s perspective, the company expects the model changes to affect deliveries in the first quarter. With a high degree of probability, the full year will be affected also by exogenous challenges and geopolitical risks.
At the same time, Mercedes-Benz Cars assumes that the model offensive will lead to sales growth in the second half of the year. The company with the three-pointed star therefore expects to slightly increase its worldwide unit sales overall, and to achieve another record in 2019. Last month, Mercedes-Benz defended its market leadership in the premium segment in markets including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Czech Republic, South Korea, the United States, Canada and Brazil.
“With more than 180,000 vehicles delivered, Mercedes-Benz has started the year 2019 with the second-best January ever. Last month was below the strong figure for the previous year; this was in line with our expectations, however, due to important model changes. With the B-Class, the CLA and the GLE, we look forward in the coming months to the new generations of models very popular with our customers and expect the model offensive in our high-volume segments to provide significant sales impetus,” said Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing and Sales. “2019 will be a challenging year for the entire industry. But we expect to inspire our customers with new models – especially in the second half of the year – and therefore aim to achieve a slight increase in unit sales and a new record in the full year.”
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SOURCE: Daimler
