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Electric Mercedes Vehicles Recorded Fewer Sales In Q2 As Petrol Models See Rise
At Mercedes, they discovered last quarter that the EV tide has turned for the time being. Demand for fully electric Mercedes vehicles decreased by almost a quarter worldwide.
Mercedes sold a total of 600,100 vehicles (passenger cars and commercial vehicles) in the second quarter of 2024. That is 6 percent less than in the same quarter last year, but 6 percent more than in the first quarter of 2024. If we add up the first two quarters of 2023 and 2024, it is noticeable that a decrease of 6 percent was recorded. Even if we zoom in solely on passenger cars, Mercedes sold 6 percent less ‘YTD’ than last year. Passenger cars accounted for 496,700 of the 600,100 vehicles mentioned.
The most notable decline, however, is not in the total but in the electric division. In the second quarter, only 51,000 of those 600,100 Mercedes were fully electric, a whopping 23 percent fewer than in the second quarter of 2023. In the first half of 2024, the decline is even slightly lower at 25 percent. A significant part of the decline in demand appears to be taking place in the US, where the EQE, even with the newer EQE SUV, was sold 21 percent less often, while Mercedes even sold 52 percent fewer EQSs there. Yes, less than half of what was sold in EQSs last year!
“The pace of EV adoption is slowing in key markets, while our company is focused on healthy growth in a market environment characterized by large discounts,” is how Mercedes itself describes the situation. When you put it like that, it’s not that bad. Mercedes also likes to point to the number of plug-in hybrids sold: PHEVs were registered 27 percent more often than last year.
Mercedes is certainly not the only brand that is experiencing firsthand that the EV adaptation is looking a little less rosy than a year ago. Worldwide, a kind of (temporary) saturation point seems to have been reached, which we can also find in the sales lists.
