September 2017: Mercedes-Benz USA

[William Maley]

Mercedes-Benz USA Reports September Sales Of 29,008

Oct 3, 2017, ATLANTA – Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today reported September sales of 29,008 units, compared to 29,500 vehicles sold during the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz Vans reported best-ever September sales with 3,088 units (up 4.0%) and smart reported 241 units, bringing the MBUSA grand total to 32,337 vehicles for the month. On a year-to-date basis, Mercedes-Benz retails totaled 242,250 units.

"The hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico certainly caused some disruption in September, but our dealers did a fantastic job to maintain business. We are also seeing continued positive developments for our SUVs," said Dietmar Exler, president and CEO of MBUSA. "We expect to regain momentum in the final quarter of the year with the launch of the new S-Class Sedan, AMG models and continued demand for our SUV lineup."

Mercedes-Benz volume leaders in September included the C-Class, GLC and GLE model lines. The C-Class took the lead at 6,194, followed by GLC sales of 4,662. The GLE rounded out the top three with 4,583 units sold.

Mercedes-AMG high-performance models sold 2,445 units in September, with a total 23,566 sold year-to-date (up 50.7%).

Separately, Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned (MBCPO) models recorded sales of 8,725 vehicles in September, a decrease of 9.1% when compared to the same month last year (9,598). On a year-to-date basis, MBCPO sold 87,677 vehicles, a decrease of 4.9% over 2016 (92,234).

[smk4565]

The GLE and GLS and G-wagon  which in in their final model year are still going up, and the AMG GT, SL and SLC sold about 500 cars combined which is sort of sad that sports cars are dying.   At least the SL will survive for another generation.

[G. David Felt]

As expected, CUV sales are doing good for MB just like everyone else. The market is truly into their CUV/SUVs.

[balthazar]

Another crushing decline for the S-class, next month it'll be down into the triple digit range. Horrible month for all their cars overall.
Daimler announced all EV smarts coming and the bottom fell out of the line. It won't survive until they can bring an EV out.

[smk4565]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

Another crushing decline for the S-class, next month it'll be down into the triple digit range. Horrible month for all their cars overall.
Daimler announced all EV smarts coming and the bottom fell out of the line. It won't survive until they can bring an EV out.

Yes the S-class was #1 seller in it's segment, and E-class was #1 in its segment.  So what does that say for the rest of cars?  The S and E class will be here for the long haul.  Audi A6 too since they sell 200,000 a year in China, but when you look at global output of RLX, Q70, Lexus GS, CTS, Continental, those are some piss poor numbers, and a lot of those will go away, just as cars like the Monte Carlo, Solara, Avenger, and Sebring/200 went away when the market shifted.

[balthazar]

Global volume numbers of course sound fine.

The question remains : is it worth it to import models that only sell 200-300/mnth (Audi) ?? A lot of the luxury sedans are dropping like stones and may not level out until they hit 100 units/mnth. At that point, it makes financial sense to pull it off the market.

Even in the Monte Carlo's last full year, it was selling 2700/mnth.

[smk4565]

15 hours ago, balthazar said:

Global volume numbers of course sound fine.

The question remains : is it worth it to import models that only sell 200-300/mnth (Audi) ?? A lot of the luxury sedans are dropping like stones and may not level out until they hit 100 units/mnth. At that point, it makes financial sense to pull it off the market.

Even in the Monte Carlo's last full year, it was selling 2700/mnth.

On an A8, they might be okay with 300 a month, Mercedes is probably okay with 250 SL's per month because of the price point.  On a $50k sedan like the RLX or Q70, they should just kill them off, 200 a month of those can't be very profitable.

If these segments start to go away, the Mercedes and BMW sedans will be the last ones standing.  They are 1 and 2 in all 3 segments.

[balthazar]

BMW sedans are dying hard. 7-series is down 22% M-t-M and 30% Y-t-Y. It cannot last, and if it's not built here, it's a money loser to ship, certify, advertise and service here. 6-series is an undeniable flop. A7 and A8 "no one" buys. Being "#2" and selling only hundreds of cars/mnth is losing. The last year of the Olds Aurora outsold what the 7-series is doing over 2:1 and people KNEW it was dying.

The real problem is, attempts to bolster/save these sedans have already failed. The S550e sold 35 units last month. BMW 530e sold 345. No one wants electrified versions of these "#X and #Y" sedans.

There's going to be a luxury sedan bloodletting soon.

Edited October 4, 2017 by balthazar