Mercedes-Benz: The star is gradually electrifying

The automaker Mercedes-Benz delivered good sales figures of 540,800 passenger cars (+17%) to customers after a strong fourth quarter. The deliveries of top-end and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were significantly increased. Thanks to continued robust demand in most regions, the months of October to December represented the most successful quarter in the Top-End segment in 2022 (+14%). In a challenging overall year of 2022, marked by regional COVID measures as well as ongoing semiconductor and logistics shortages, Mercedes-Benz delivered 2,043,900 vehicles (-1%) to its customers. On the way to a fully electric future, Mercedes-Benz Cars sold 319,200 xEV units (PHEVs and BEVs including smart) worldwide in 2022 (+19%). This accounts for 15% of total sales.

The BEV deliveries for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars more than doubled to 117,800 units (+124%). Including smart, nearly every second xEV sale was a battery-electric vehicle (44%). As an important step towards the end of the decade, when better market conditions for operating fully electric vehicles are expected, the Swabians announced at CES in Las Vegas last week the development of their own fast-charging network, to be established in cooperation with ChargePoint and MN8. This aims to enable effortless and quick charging with more than 10,000 fast-charging stations worldwide.

The S-Class sells four and a half times better than the EQS

Deliveries of the S-Class increased to over 90,000 units, a 5% increase compared to the previous year. Additionally, the EQS attracted new customers and sold 19,200 units in 2022, driven by strong demand in the USA. The EQS SUV, introduced in 2022, has also been positively received in the USA and will be launched in China at the beginning of 2023. With the introduction of the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV in the first half of 2023, Mercedes-Maybach is also turning electric. In the mid-range segment called Core Luxury by the Swabians, 1,101,800 units (+4%) were delivered to customers. The GLC was again the best-selling model from Mercedes-Benz in 2022 with 342,900 units (+3%). The brand with the star aims to continue this success story with the successor model, which was introduced in mid-2022. The C-Class increased deliveries by 17% to 299,100 units.

The fully electric EQE is now available in all regions and was already delivered to 12,600 customers in 2022. The recently introduced EQE SUV can now be ordered across Europe. The markets in China and the USA will follow in the first half of 2023. The so-called Core Luxury segment will also be further enhanced by the brand-new E-Class, which will celebrate its world premiere in 2023. Sales in the "Entry Luxury" segment reached 587,700 units (-10%). The decline is primarily due to supply chain and logistics bottlenecks. The EQA is the best-selling fully electric model with 33,100 units (+43%), followed by the EQB with 24,200 units. The A- and B-Class received a model update in the last quarter of 2022 and are now available. The BEV share in this segment doubled to 10% of sales.