Reuters: Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Cars sales drop in 2008

The global recession has left car manufacturers around the world with poor sales results for 2008. GM, Ford, and Chrysler have all been well documented victims, but Mercedes-Benz, a premium German manufacturer, has also been slammed by the rough economic times.

Mercedes-Benz cars which includes the Mercedes-Benz, SMART, and Maybach brands saw sales decline 2.3% in 2008. SMART was the lone brand to achieve sales growth while Mercedes-Benz and Maybach brands both saw sales decline compared to 2007.

The flagship Mercedes-Benz brand of cars saw sales decline a sharp 5.4% compared to 2007. The decline is attributed to Mercedes-Benz's large dependence on the dismal U.S. market.

In the month of December, the Mercedes-Benz brand took a painful 18% drop in sales bringing global sales for the brand down to 1.12 million vehicles which takes Mercedes-Benz closer and closer to Volkswagen's flagship unit, Audi, in terms of sales. Audi sold 1,003,600 vehicles in 2008 an increase of 4.1% globally compared to 2007.


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GermanNut - 1/8/2009 1:40:18 PM

0 Boost

Audi is going to catch and surpass Mercedes-Benz very very sooon if this trend keeps up.

Mercedes-Benz global sales for 2008: -5.4%

Audi global sales for 2008: +4.1%

The new E-class should give Benz a much needed boost, but Mercedes must continue to improve on its reliability if it is to avoid being overtaken by Audi.

Willis - 1/8/2009 2:01:18 PM

+1 Boost

Mercedes reliability has improved tremendously.

My '07 C230 has had zero problems. In my inner circle of friends and relative, a lot of whom drive Mercedes, have also been generally happy with their newer purchases.

VISO - 1/8/2009 4:52:41 PM

-2 Boost

Audi had an increase of 4.1% Globally. Where do you get the decrease of 5.4. Makes no sense. Audi is generally more cool and younger feeling than a MB these days. MB strikes me as old and clicky.

ghosthunter - 1/8/2009 4:52:54 PM

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if you are impressed with a 2 year car not having problems, then you need to set your standard a bit higher. this is not year 1980 when you expect car to troble you once a month.

quite frankly, i have had cars that didn't have any problem for first 5 years, that is reliability. a car not having any problem for the first 2 years is EXPECTED if you buy anything other than german.

GermanNut - 1/8/2009 5:32:23 PM

-1 Boost

Viso I said:

Mercedes-Benz global sales for 2008: -5.4%

Audi global sales for 2008: +4.1%

I realize Audi was +4.1% globally. Audi is going to surpass Benz in the very near future if this trend keeps up, which I think it will because China will become the new #1 global automotive market and Audi leads by a wide margin. Also, the U.S. is going to remain in a recession for at least the first half of the year, if not the entire year and therefore Mercedes-Benz will continue to get slammed by its large dependence on an extremely weak market.

david999 - 1/8/2009 7:25:10 PM

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Mercedes will be ok. They will start introducing cheaper models like the A-Class and B-Class into the U.S. which will increase sales. This, however, will diminish their "prestige factor" a little but BMW and Audi have been doing this already with their 1-Series and A3 respectively.

SixxFive - 1/8/2009 8:39:42 PM

+2 Boost

Germannut: how convienient that you forgot to mention the following about Audi (from the WSJ article): In the U.S., Audi's sales fell 6.1% to 87,760 cars. Persistent weakness in the U.S. could pose a problem for Audi in coming months. Audi's sales drop in the US was greater that MB's. Last but not least, easy for Audi to achieve any sort of volume when basically, the only model that it sells in large volumes is the A4.

VISO - 1/8/2009 9:50:54 PM

+1 Boost

So, MB sales fell more in the US.

enthusiastx11 - 1/8/2009 9:18:01 PM

+2 Boost

not good, but a 5.4% drop in 2008 over 2007 is AMAZING compared to the competition.

enthusiastx11 - 1/8/2009 9:19:26 PM

+1 Boost

except for audi of course...the only major luxury brand to see an increase in sales.

GermanNut - 1/8/2009 10:29:47 PM

+1 Boost

SixxFive, Mercedes-Benz U.S. sales declined 11.2% in 2008. On the other hand, Audi only saw a decrease of 6.1% in U.S. sales. On a percentage basis Mercedes-Benz almost dropped twice as much in the U.S. when compared to Audi.

Secondly, persistent weakness in the U.S., while potentially causing a problem for Audi, is the main reason why Audi has done so well compared to Mercedes and BMW. Mercedes and BMW are much bigger players in the U.S. market and therefore when the U.S. market weakens MB and BMW get hit much, much worse than Audi. Just look at Mercedes-Benz sales being down 11.2% in the U.S. for 2008. BMW sales in the U.S. fell a whopping 15.2% in 2008.

Lastly, Audi's A6 outsells both the Mercedes-Benz E-class and BMW 5-series worldwide. Therefore the A4 is not Audi's only volume selling model.

enthusiastx11 a 5.4% decline in global sales for MB is certainly NOT amazing compared to Audi's 4.1% INCREASE.