Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars more than doubled its sales of battery-electric cars in the second quarter to 56 300 units (+123%). This growth was mainly due to demand in three model series. The van division also posted gains in Q2, but not as strong as the passenger car business.

With these 56 300 fully electric vehicles sold, the Stuttgart-based company not only significantly outperformed the second quarter from last year (23 500 BEVS sold) but also the best quarter of 2022 (Q4 with 42 400 units) and the first quarter of this year (51 600).

EQA, EQB, and EQE in the lift

The good electric result is mainly due to demand for the EQA (+73%) and EQB (+83%) and even more for the EQE (+157%). Although the EQE SUV only went on sale in mid-December (and initially only as an AMG, the weaker versions have only been available to order since May), the SUV has already overtaken the sedan: Mercedes is reporting sales of 10 000 units for the EQE SUV against 9 000 for the sedan.

The larger EQS SUV sold 10 900 times in the first half of the year, but the comparison between both electric SUVs is biased because EQE SUV sales only represent the second quarter’s sales.

Just over 10% of total sales

Across all drive types, Mercedes sold 515 700 units in Q2, an increase of 6%. This means that sales of electric cars grew at a much higher rate but still only accounted for 10,9% of sales. Munich competitor BMW achieved a higher total BEV sales number and a BEV share of 14,1%.  On the German market, Mercedes managed better: the electric share was already 17% there.

The figures for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars do not include Smart’s electric cars. The vehicles sold via the joint venture with Geely are only included in the statistics from Mercedes-Benz Cars. A total of 61 200 BEVs are reported for the second quarter, bringing Smart sales to 4 900 units in Q2.

In the first six months of 2023, Mercedes-Benz Cars sold 102 600 BEVs worldwide (+121%). With total sales of 1,02 million vehicles, the electric vehicle share in the year’s first half is an even 10%.

LCVs are catching up slowly

Mercedes-Benz Vans sold 5 100 electric vans in the second quarter, 18% more than in the same period last year. Since around 120 000 LCVs were sold, the E share for Mercedes vans is only 4,25%. Mercedes-Benz Vans does not detail the individual electric models in its statement.

“With a clear focus on sustainable growth, we continued to increase sales in all key regions and segments in the second quarter, especially in our electric vehicles and the top-end segment,” says Britta Seeger, Member of the Board responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Sales.

Mercedes-Benz’s ultimate goal is to sell only fully electric cars in the markets where this is feasible by 2030. A conditio sine qua non here is the availability of decent charging infrastructure. That’s why the company is working on its own charging network and joining the NACS charging standard in the US.

Recalls

Recently, Mercedes-Benz has issued two voluntary recalls that affect EQE, EQS, and EQS SUV electric vehicles in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) counts 8 281 electric Mercedes cars among the affected in its latest report.

The issue is with the software. Under certain conditions, it could lead to a loss of propulsion (first recall). The second recall concerns a possible fault in the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) monitoring software. To fix the issue, Mercedes needs owners to schedule an appointment with an authorized dealer, where the cars will get a software update. No accidents or incidents have been reported so far due to these software glitches.