AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/10 Report--

Mercedes-Benz today reported fourth-quarter and full-year sales in 2021, while global retail sales of Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand fell 24.6 per cent year-on-year to 464130 vehicles in the fourth quarter. According to the data for the first three quarters, Mercedes-Benz sold 2.093 million vehicles in 2021, down 5% from the same period last year. The global shortage of semiconductors may be the main reason. The total delivery of cars and trucks exceeded 2.4 million. Last week, BMW announced full-year sales of 2.2 million vehicles, although detailed figures have not yet been released, and BMW surpassed Mercedes-Benz in global sales for the first time in luxury cars. In the first three quarters, BMW sold more than 1.93 million vehicles, up 17.9% from a year earlier.

In terms of market distribution, Europe suffered the biggest decline, with sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars falling 11.2 per cent to 696136 in the region, while sales in North America rose slightly to 318456. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region fell 1.6 per cent to 1.01 million, with the Chinese market down 2 per cent from a year earlier, delivering a total of 758863 new cars.

In the first two quarters of this year, this gap has begun to open in the BBA tussle in the Chinese market. BMW's cumulative sales rose 41.9% year-on-year to 467064 vehicles in the first half of 2021, making it the biggest increase among BBA brands. Mercedes-Benz's cumulative sales in the first half of 2021 were 441579, up 27.6% from a year earlier, the lowest among BBA brands. Audi ranked third, with a year-on-year increase of 38.6% to 418188 vehicles, less than BMW-Benz, but faster than Mercedes-Benz.

The global epidemic has been going on for quite a long time. Due to the early stage of the epidemic, manufacturers misestimated the development of the epidemic, and most of them cancelled the order plans for chips. Subsequently, when the automobile manufacturers resumed their orders, they found that although the automotive chip is not the most advanced chip technology, the delayed delivery time has greatly affected the production plans of all automobile manufacturers. On the other hand, the epidemic in Southeast Asia has not been effectively controlled, and most chip manufacturers are in this region. Whether trucks, Tesla, Geely, or Mercedes-Benz, without exception, are affected by the shortage of chips.

All manufacturers already know the impact of chips on delivery, so they schedule production according to their own direction of specialization. Toyota overtook General Motors, the old local car manufacturer, in the North American market by virtue of the production adjustment under the epidemic. Become the top seller in this market. Similarly, Mercedes-Benz tilted most of its resources towards high-end models, with delivery of Mercedes-Benz's flagship S-Class up 40 per cent to 87064, with China accounting for 35.5 per cent of global demand. Sales of luxury brand Maybach are up more than 50%, and Maybach sells more than 900 cars a month.

Driven by Tesla and the policies of various countries, traditional manufacturers have realized the speed of electrification in 2021, and Mercedes-Benz has also begun to increase its investment in new energy vehicles. Last year, 227458 new energy models were delivered, of which 48936 were EQ pure electric vehicles. Mercedes-Benz delivered more than 99000 pure electric vehicles, including smart and Mercedes-Benz electric vans. Mercedes-Benz said it had received 16370 orders for the EQS since it went on sale in August 2021. On December 17, Mercedes-Benz officially announced the domestic price of its all-electric large car Mercedes-Benz EQS, which ranges from 107.96 yuan to 1.5186 million yuan, and will go on sale at the beginning of this year. The electric sports car will have a range of more than 1000 kilometers per charge. In 2022, Mercedes-Benz will launch 21 new products in the Chinese market, including 8 pure electric and plug-in hybrid models. Previously, Mercedes-Benz had announced plans to invest more than 40 billion euros to compete with Tesla in electric vehicles by the end of 2030, and from 2025 all its car platforms will only produce electric vehicles.

It is clear that Mercedes-Benz may have more to learn from local brands in the transformation of electrification. In the market of the traditional automobile industry, everyone has formed their own positioning and pattern, and this tradition may soon be changed by the new market pattern and play, and Mercedes-Benz may also need to keep up with this change.

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