On February 22, at the annual Mercedes-Benz shareholders' meeting, General Manager Ola Krennius publicly announced that the target of fully converting all major markets to electric vehicles by 2030 has been adjusted because the popularity of Mercedes-Benz brand electric vehicles has not reached the expected level.
In fact, even in the European market, Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle sales will account for 11% of total sales in 2023 alone, and the overall proportion of hybrid vehicle sales will only reach 19%.
Mercedes-Benz has been actively promoting its "electrification-first" strategy. However, recently, according to the company's latest investor information, Mercedes-Benz is adjusting its electric vehicle conversion strategy due to the impact of sluggish demand for electric vehicles. Kang Linsong, chairman of the board of directors, confirmed that Mercedes-Benz will continue to maintain the production line of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, and it is expected to undergo technological transformation in the next ten years. The current plan is to launch a new series of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2027 to ensure that there will still be enough by the 2030s**.
Mercedes made it clear in the report that "the ultimate speed of change depends on the response of the market and customers". Clearly, Mercedes-Benz has chosen to slow down in the electrification trend and plans to continue to develop new combustion models. This undoubtedly marks a major change in the future development direction of Mercedes-Benz, reflecting the in-depth thinking and prudent judgment of the development direction of the entire automotive industry. In the long run, electric vehicles, traditional gasoline vehicles and hybrid vehicles are likely to coexist in the future to meet the diversified market and consumer demand. While the trend of diversification has brought deep-seated challenges to car companies, it has also prompted consumers to readjust their perceptions and codes of conduct.
Mercedes-Benz turned around at the moment, reflecting the complexity, diversity and instability in the development process of the new energy vehicle industry. The importance of green environmental protection and sustainable development is undeniable, but market demand, technological maturity and sustainability still pose significant obstacles to its further development.
Notably, Mercedes-Benz had earlier announced full electrification by 2030. Two years later, in May 2022, Mercedes-Benz held a strategic upgrade conference in France, announcing its ambitious plan to increase sales of high-end models by about 60% by 2026 compared to 2019, fully shift to electrification by 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality for all new vehicles by 2039.
Looking at historical sales data, Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 194 in 2021390,000 vehicles. Among them, the entry-level model had the highest sales volume of 32280,000 units; In terms of growth rate, Mercedes-Benz's high-end luxury models will grow steadily in 2021, especially the sales of S-class and Mai** models will both increase by more than 60%.
According to the global new energy vehicle sales statistics (EV volumes), the global production and sales of new energy vehicles have continued to rise steadily since 2014. In 2022, the global sales of new energy vehicles totaled about 1,05220,000 units, up 55% from 2021. Although it is a slight slowdown from 109% in 2021, it still maintains a strong growth momentum in the past nine years. With the change of regional growth patterns, the trend of sales in Europe is obvious, but in 2022, it will only increase slightly, only 15%. The weakness of the automotive market and the shortage of spare parts have taken a toll on car manufacturers. During the same period, electric vehicle sales in the U.S. and Canada increased by 48% year-on-year. In the second half of 2022, compared with the same period last year, the global new energy vehicle market showed slight signs of recovery.