On Wednesday, we announced that at least one out of ten sales in Q1 for the BMW Group was electric. Competitor Mercedes-Benz now announced that it scored almost at the same level for its fully electric car sales in the first quarter of 2023. Sales of battery-electric passenger cars almost doubled to 51 600 units (+89%), while electric van sales rose by 22%.

Regarding global passenger car sales, Mercedes reached a total across all drive types of 503 500 units sold in Q1 (+3%). The 51 600 BEVs sold came to an electric vehicle share of 10%. In Q1 2022, the share of EVs in total Mercedes-Benz Cars sales remained at 6%.

Premium competitor BMW had already presented its sales figures for the first quarter. The Munich-based company sold 64 647 fully electric vehicles from the BMW and Mini brands, corresponding to a share of 11%.

At Mercedes, the 51 600 vehicles also include the Smart electric cars. The manufacturer does not give any absolute figures for BEV sales of Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars (without Smart), but sales more than doubled in Q1 with an increase of 119%.

Entry segment booming

Also, for some models inside the  Mercedes portfolio, there are only statements on the relative change compared to Q1 2022, but the trend is clear: there was a great demand for electric cars in the entry segment. As a result, sales of the EQB increased by 189% and those of the EQA by 64%.

Across all drive types, sales in the entry segment (all A- and B-Class derivatives, incl. EQA, EQB, and Smart) increased by 27% to 163 300 units. It remains to be seen if Mercedes-Benz is still keen on getting rid of this segment shortly with these positive sales figures.

The middle segment, on the contrary, has lost a little ground and recorded 284 400 sales, a decrease of 11%.

Top-end models preferred

Nevertheless, the Mercedes press release focused primarily on the so-called top-end models. The high segment registered 91 800 sales, an increase of 18%. One model that Mercedes explicitly mentions in the press release is the new EQS SUV.

The Stuttgart-based company was also able to sell 5 500 units of the model from the “top-end segment” (including Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach, G-Class, S-Class, GLS, EQS, and EQS SUV).

In addition, Mercedes emphasized that BEV sales in the USA soared by 327%, while Europe recorded an increase of 41%. The likely background to the US boom: the EQE SUV was launched on the US market in the first quarter of 2023. Europe and China will follow in the second quarter.

“Our customers’ desire for our top-end products and battery electric vehicles is the driving force behind our sales result in the first quarter,” said Mercedes-Benz sales director Britta Seeger.

“Beyond this, we successfully introduced our direct sales model in the UK, while Germany and two more markets will follow in 2023. I am already excited about the upcoming world premiere of the first all-electric Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV next week,” she added.

Electric vans

Mercedes-Benz Vans increased its sales by 12% in the year’s first three months. As a result, 98 900 vehicles were sold worldwide, more than ever in the first quarter. At Mercedes-Benz Vans, all-electric cars accounted for 3 600 units in Q1 (+22%), resulting in a 3,6% share in the same period.

The van division did not break down its BEV sales by model or segment in its comments, but you can see some figures in the graphic below.

Nevertheless, the good results of newcomers T-Class and new Citan were mentioned. “The completely new T-Class, which has been available since the summer of last year, and the commercially positioned Citan were able to convince numerous customers in the small van segment (+89%),” the press release read.