Moses Akaigwe
The year 2019 was the ninth consecutive record year for Mercedes-Benz, with growth of 1.3 percent to a total of 2,339,562 units delivered worldwide. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz maintained its leading position among the luxury car brands for the fourth year in a row. In all three of its main markets – China, Germany and the USA – the Stuttgart-based brand with the three-pointed star surpassed the high levels of the previous year.
China, Mercedes-Benz’s largest market, remained the main growth driver, withsales of 693,443 units representing an increase of 6.2 percent and a new record year. Last year’s model offensive with a total of more than 10 new or revised models led to a significant boost in unit sales, particularly ofCompact Cars and SUVs, and contributed to the overall sales growth.
In fullyear 2019, Mercedes-Benz maintained its market leadership in the luxurysegment in markets including Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada andSouth Africa.
Commenting on the remarkable performance, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, Ola Källenius, said: “The ninth consecutive record year underscores once more the strong demand for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, even amidst far-reaching changes in the mobility landscape. In addition, Mercedes-Benz continues to be clearly the number one in the luxury market –this proves how valuable our brand is.2019 was a year of great challenges for the automotive industry. “
Mercedes-Benz’s five largest markets last year were China, Germany and the USA followed by Great Britain and South Korea. The Stuttgart-based company with the three-pointed starfinished the year with the highest annual unit sales in its history, as well as its best quarter ever (614,319 units, +3.2 percent). In the fourth quarter of 2019,
Mercedes-Benz sold for the first time more than 600,000 cars within a quarter. Inthe month of December,
205,968vehicles were sold and therefore the high prior-year level was almost achieved (-0.3 percent).
Britta Seeger, Member of the Boards of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG responsible for Marketing and Sales, said:“In 2019, a particularly large number of customers inChina, Germany and the USAdecided in favour of a new vehicle from Mercedes-Benz: In each of these three major markets, we surpassed the high level of unit sales we achieved in the previous year.”
Information on Mercedes-Benz’s performance in Nigeria last year was not available as the time of going to press. Westastar Associates Ltd is the authorised general distributor for the three-pointed star brand in the country.
Asia-Pacific region {China}achieves best-ever sales
In the Asia-Pacific sales region, a new record was achieved in 2019 with 977,922 units sold (+3.7 percent). In fact, more Mercedes-Benz vehicles were delivered in China than in any other market globally.A total of 693,443 cars were handed over to customersin China, an increase of more than 40,000 unitscompared with the previous year and a new record (+6.2 percent).
Sales volume in the Europe region
In the Europe region, a total of 937,881 cars with the three-pointed star were delivered to customers in 2019- slightly above thehigh prior-year level (+0.4 percent). In Germany, its domestic market, Mercedes-Benz was able to surpass the previous year’s figure by more than 14,000 units due to sales growth ofCompact Cars and SUVs, delivering 318,353 vehiclesin the full year (+4.8%).
More than 372,100 cars in NAFTA
In the NAFTA {North America}region, 372,144 new Mercedes-Benz vehicles were delivered to customers between January and December (-1.64 percent). Despite a challenging market situation,316,094 vehicles in the USA were sold and the high prior-year level surpassed by 135 units (+0.0 percent). In the second half of the year, Mercedes-Benz increased its deliveries in the USAin five out of six months. An increase in unit sales wastherefore achieved in the fourth quarter (+1.7 percent).
Every 3rd Mercedes sold was SUV. Withsales of about 783,700 units the GLA, GLB, GLC, GLC Coupé, EQC (combined electrical consumption: 20.8–19.7 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)[1], GLE, GLE Coupé, GLS and G-Class, the SUVs were Mercedes-Benz’s strongest-selling segment in 2019 (-4.5 percent).
Compact Cars. In 2019, every fourth Mercedes-Benz sold was a Compact Car: More than 667,000units of the A- and B-Class, CLA, CLA Shooting Brake, GLA and GLBwere delivered last year (+9.5 percent).
Over 392,900 C-Class delivered
Approximately 392,900 units of the C-Class Saloon and Estate were delivered in 2019 (-0.9 percent). The C-Class Saloon achieved growth particularly in the Asia-Pacific region and a new record (+8.5 percent).
E-Class Saloon and Estate. More than 351,000 units of the E-Class Saloon and Estate were delivered to customers in the third full year of sales of the new generation (-1.3 percent). The importance of China as the most important market for theMercedes-Benz saloon models is clearly reflected by the E-Class.
S-Class: World’s best-selling luxury saloon. Mercedes-Benz has always aspired to build the best automobile in the world with the S-Class. The S-Class Saloon was the best-selling luxury saloon in the world last year. Six years after the launch of the current generation of the S-Class Saloon, sales ofabout 71,700 units in 2019 remained at a very high level (-8.0 percent).