Mercedes-Benz undertook some deep discounting and concerted marketing support to regain its position in the market
Most car makers show positive sales figures; But Mercedes and Fiat are in doldrums; Volkswagen tops car registrations; Is salary sacrifice distorting retail figures?
WITH the majority of car makers showing positive figures this year, those with negative figures are beginning to increasingly stand out.
Mercedes, which switched to the agency model at the start of the year, was up 12.6% in August. However this is still lower than the industry average growth for the month … meanwhile there’s criticism that salary sacrifice is distorting the true retail market. Story here.
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There’s no change in the Mercedes-Benz sales performance under agency which continues to chart downwards in the July 2023 car sales figures
In a new car market that’s 18.4% up on 2022, Mercedes-Benz has seen a 6.6% fall in its registrations in H1 2023 with its new agency approach to car retailing that cuts out leasing brokers.
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FIVE months into its agency sales model, Mercedes new car registrations are down 11.6% and more than 4,500 units on the same time last year. The drop is set against a market that’s up 16.8% overall.
Mercedes is also the biggest faller in terms of new car registrations in terms of outright numbers so far this year, although other brands have seen larger percentage drops.
MERCEDES-BENZ, the first major brand to switch from franchised retailing to the agency model, recorded another significant drop in new car registrations in April.
The OEM was down 1,425 units on the same month last year. The fall comes against an overall rise for the month of 11.5% and a company car market rise of around a third.
Mercedes’ monthly unit drop was by far the largest fall.