AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/11 Report--

Sales of Mercedes and BMW both fell in the third quarter due to weak demand in the luxury car market.

On October 10th, Mercedes-Benz Group released its latest sales report, showing that the group sold a total of 594600 new cars in the third quarter, down 3% from the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz Group sales decline is mainly due to the Chinese market. It delivered 170700 new cars in the Chinese market in the third quarter, down 13% from the same period last year, making it the world's largest market decline. By contrast, Germany fell 7 per cent year-on-year and the US grew 33 per cent. By the end of the third quarter, Mercedes-Benz delivered 1763200 new cars, down 5 per cent from a year earlier, with Germany down 13 per cent to 149700, China down 10 per cent to 512200 and the US up 9 per cent. China remains the world's largest single market by volume, accounting for 29 per cent of the group's total sales.

In addition to Mercedes-Benz, BMW Group also showed a decline. According to the report, BMW Group's global sales in the third quarter were 540882 vehicles, down 13% from the same period last year. BMW's sales in all regions declined, of which BMW Group's sales in China fell 29.8% to 147691 vehicles, the largest decline. BMW said that due to brake system failure, the emergency recall of 1.5 million vehicles, this part also affected the delivery data, compared with other markets, the decline is lower. Among them, Germany fell by 8.8% and the United States by 9.2%. In the first three quarters, BMW Group's global sales fell 4.5 per cent to 1754158 vehicles, mainly due to BMW's slow sales in China, where sales fell 13.1 per cent to 523638 vehicles, causing BMW to decline 10.7 per cent in Asia, 5.1 per cent in Germany and 2.1 per cent in the US.

However, unlike Mercedes-Benz, BMW's electric vehicle business performed well, with pure electric vehicle sales rising 10.1 per cent year-on-year to 103440 in the third quarter, in sharp contrast to Mercedes-Benz. In the first three quarters, sales of pure electric models totaled 294054, up 19.1 per cent from a year earlier.

Earlier, Mercedes-Benz and BMW both cut their annual performance forecasts. Among them, the adjusted profit margin of Mercedes-Benz's car business is expected to be lowered to "7.5% copyright 8.5%" from the previous 11%, as the company's demand in China, its largest market, cools further. BMW will have an EBIT margin of between 6 and 7 per cent in 2024 (previously between 8 and 10 per cent) and a return on capital use (RoCE) of between 11 and 13 per cent (previously 15 to 20 per cent).

All the data show that Mercedes-Benz and BMW have suffered a setback at the top end of the Chinese market, another warning sign for the German luxury car market, the shift from high production costs and management to electric cars. to falling demand and increased competition from other brands.

In the future, consumers will turn to new energy vehicles on a large scale, so traditional brands should actively develop new energy vehicle products to fundamentally solve the challenges they are facing and adapt to the changes in consumption trends. According to BMW's plan, the new BMW X3 long wheelbase version will be delivered in the first quarter of 2025, and the new BMW X3 M50 will be introduced to the Chinese market in the second quarter of next year. In the pure electric sector, the BMW new generation model will be put into production worldwide in the second half of next year, and at least six new generation models will be introduced to the market within 24 months after the first model is put into production. The Chinese R & D team is expected to start road testing of the new generation model in China next year, and the first new generation model will be officially put into production in Shenyang in 2026.

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