It seems that Mercedes has overcome the coronavirus crisis. In the first quarter of 2021 Mercedes sold 581,270 units, 21.8% more than in Q1 2020 and 3.6% more than in Q1 2019. A mercedesblog analysis.
The coronavirus epidemic has dramatically affected car sales, including premium ones.
In the first quarter of last year, which also included March in which many European countries were in lock-down, Mercedes sold only 477,378 units.
Although the crisis is not over, Mercedes’ result in the first quarter of 2021 can be considered exceptional. The German luxury brand managed to find 590,999 customers worldwide, which is an increase of 21.8% over the same period last year.
But more importantly, the result recorded in the first quarter of 2021 is even better than in Q1 2019 before the crisis. Thus, in Q1 2021 Mercedes sold 3.6% more cars than in Q1 2019.
One explanation for the good result is the increase in sales of electrified models. Hybrid and electric plug-in models account for 10% of global sales with about 59,000 units in total from which 16,000 full electric vehicles. In Europe, the percentage of electrified models is even higher, of 25%.
Mercedes EQA is already a great success, with about 20,000 orders.
However, sales in Q1 2021 are 2.2% lower than those recorded in Q1 2018, the year in which Mercedes became the best-selling premium brand in the world, surpassing BMW.
By region, in China, Mercedes sold 222,520 units in Q1 in 2021 (+ 60.1%). And in Europe, despite the reintroduction of partial lockdown measures, Mercedes sold 1.8% more vehicles than in Q1 2020. In North America, sales increased by 12.5% to 88,318 units.
It should be noted that the recovery of sales is due exclusively to the Asia-Pacific region and especially to China, where Mercedes set an absolute record.
Sales in the Asia Pacific region registered 291,578 units, with 40,000 units more than in the record year 2018. All other regions have lower sales compared to 2018 and 2019.
By models, the highest progress was registered by the new S-Class (+ 17.0%), E-Class saloon and estate (+ 23.9%). Mercedes also sold 54.3% more SUVs in Q1 2021 than in Q1 2020.
Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 | Q1 2019 | Q1 2018 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mercedes-Benz | 581,270 | 477,378 | 560,873 | 594,304 |
smart | 9,729 | 5,863 | 27,048 | 30,726 |
Mercedes-Benz Cars | 590,999 | 483,241 | 587,921 | 625,030 |
sales by region | ||||
Europe | 192,302 | 188,963 | 224,678 | 238,131 |
- thereof Germany | 54,446 | 64,332 | 70,542 | 74,262 |
Asia-Pacific | 291,578 | 198,849 | 239,996 | 249,106 |
-thereof China | 222,520 | 138,960 | 174,343 | 169,932 |
North America | 88,318 | 78,501 | 84,111 | 93,375 |
-thereof USA | 78,256 | 67,746 | 71,171 | 78,474 |