Mercedes-Benz has released its worldwide delivery figures for the second quarter (Q2). Interestingly, in its press release on these numbers, Mercedes-Benz highlighted battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales. Total plug-in vehicle sales amounted to 65,400 registrations in the second quarter and all-electric car sales totaled 23,500.
Mercedes-Benz Electric Vehicle Sales Growth and Total Vehicle Sales Decline
Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz pointed out that BEV sales were up 90% and plug-in vehicle sales (both plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles) were up 2%. The 90% figure looks impressive at first glance, the 2% very meh† However, the most important number I want to focus on is the 23,500 sales of BEVs. In the context of the global BEV market, 23,500 is minuscule, but Mercedes-Benz wants to emphasize that totally.
You might say, “Hey, Mercedes-Benz is not a mass market brand and only produces about 500,000 sales per quarter.” However, that 23,500 total isn’t even 5% of the German company’s total sales, which is a weak BEV share in the current market, especially given that Mercedes-Benz is based in Europe, where BEV sales booming†
Plus, Tesla is actually a young teenager and already selling more than 10 times that total of Mercedes-Benz BEV. Tesla has achieved half of Mercedes-Benz’s total quarterly sales thanks to 100% electric vehicles – Mercedes-Benz could have and should have found a way to sell a much higher percentage of electric vehicles. It’s not 2016 anymore. It’s 2022!
Tesla had more than 10 times as many BEV sales as Mercedes-Benz in the second quarter.
On the positive side, the production of Mercedes-Benz EQE is now underway, the company reports, and sales of EQS SUVs will start in the second half of 2022. So we can see some decent growth towards the end of the year. Still, Mercedes could do a lot more.
Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.
Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.
Notably, overall Mercedes-Benz sales declined 16% in the second quarter and the first half of the year as a whole. As mentioned, BEV (excluding smart vehicles) sales grew 90% in the second quarter and even more in the first half of the year at 134%. So Mercedes-Benz sees that the trends are affecting it quite a bit now, and there is one major avenue for growth: electricity.
Speaking of EVs, Britta Seeger, Member of the Executive Board of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing and Sales, said: “The advance of electric vehicles is gaining momentum: Sales of our all-electric vehicles increased by more than 90% in the second quarter and even 134% in the first half of 2022. It shows that we offer attractive electric vehicles that our customers want.” Yes, customers want Mercedes-Benz EVs, but do customers want enough Mercedes EVs instead of non-Mercedes EVs to stop the overall decline in corporate sales and help the German automaker grow again? Benz willing to produce in the coming years?We’ll see.
Mercedes-Benz electric van sales growth and general van sales decline
Mercedes-Benz EQV, eSprinter, eVito, eCitan.
On the van side, Mercedes-Benz also has strong BEV sales growth to share. “Mercedes-Benz Vans reaffirms its claim to be a leading supplier of eVans in the second quarter and will continue to expand its product range to include electric models in the small van segment. In total, around 3,900 battery-electric vans were delivered to customers (+61%). The share of the purely electric eSprinter and eVito almost doubled to approximately 3,100 units (+97%). However, in the privately positioned mid-sized van segment, deliveries of the EQV declined by 4% from April to June.” Overall, as with cars, sales of Mercedes-Benz Vans were slightly lower than the year before despite those strong growth rates. In this case, they were down 2%, with about 100,000 vans sold.
It’s all about the batteries!
A car manufacturer can only sell as many electric cars and vans as it can get the batteries. It is not clear how strong the supply chain and order log of Mercedes-Benz batteries is. However, without enough batteries, not enough electric vehicles will be produced for the company to be competitive in this high-BEV-demand market.
On the other hand, batteries in vehicles that have used up their time on the road are still very valuable. With a long-term view, Mercedes-Benz has entered into a new partnership to maximize the value of those old batteries. “Clean energy startup Moment Energy has signed a supply agreement with Mercedes-Benz Energy (MBE) for used batteries for electric vehicles. This is the first agreement that Mercedes-Benz Energy has signed with a North American supplier of second-life energy storage systems (ESS).
“Together with Moment Energy, we will enable sustainable ESS solutions for North America based on second-hand batteries. We must combine the experience of Mercedes-Benz Energy with the pioneering spirit of Moment Energy in these exciting times,” said Gordon Gassmann, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Energy.
An important note from the press release regarding that new partnership is that Mercedes-Benz is highlighting a 2030 market share for EVs that is well above the company’s current 5% BEV makeup. “Electric vehicles, or EVs, are expected to account for 70% of U.S. auto sales by 2030. With this growth, tens of millions of discarded EV batteries are mismanaged. In addition, these batteries still have an average of 80% of their original capacity left when they are used. be removed from vehicles.” Does that mean Mercedes-Benz is aiming for 70% of vehicle sales in the US to be electric vehicles by 2030, or is the company just using that figure from external reports to make their new partnership look better? well behind Europe and China in EV’s share of the overall car market, but EVs are unstoppable even in the United States, and maybe Mercedes-Benz is planning to.”
The company sees real success in the segments where it has turned to EVs. “Sales in the Entry Luxury category reached 132,600 units (-32%). For Mercedes-Benz, the shift to electric vehicles in this segment is accelerating, with BEVs accounting for 14% of total sales, up 50% compared to last year’s quarter. Deliveries of the Mercedes-Benz EQA increased by more than 50% to 7,000 and the all-electric EQB had a very strong quarter with 5,500 sales worldwide.” When will the company have enough batteries and production capacity to reach 14% BEV sales overall, then 21%, 31%, 47%?…
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