Mercedes-Benz 2024 Car Sales Fall in Tough Year for Automakers

Mercedes-Benz Car Sales: Mercedes-Benz's core car sales fell in 2024, a tough year for the auto industry marked by waning demand in a weak economy, especially in China, the German luxury carmaker said on Friday.

Despite this, Mercedes stock inched higher after the results and was up 4 per cent by 1120 GMT, topping the German blue-chip index DAX. The shares had lost around 15 per cent in value in 2024.

Stifel analyst Daniel Schwarz pointed to a robust 34 per cent quarterly sales rise in the carmaker's lucrative top-end segment after a poor performance in the third quarter had weighed on earnings.

"The better (product) mix should support a sequential improvement," Schwarz added.

A rare bright spot in the Mercedes release was a 3 per cent quarterly rise in October-December sales in its core car unit, driven by a jump in top-end vehicle sales.

Fourth quarter car sales were up 1 per cent compared with the same period last year.

It sold 1,983,400 cars during the year, down 3 per cent on 2023, weighed down by a 7 per cent drop in China and a 3 per cent decline in Europe.

Annual sales of battery-electric cars (BEV) dropped by 23 per cent to 185,100 vehicles, adding pressure on the carmaker as new, harsher EU CO2 emission reduction targets take effect this year, which could potentially mean costly pooling deals or hefty fines for Mercedes if the BEV sales don't pick up.

The automaker cut its full-year profit margin target twice in 2024 and said it will step up cost cuts, joining a growing number of European rivals blaming a weakening Chinese car market for falling profits and margins.

Mercedes also plans to lower its mid-term profitability targets as market conditions are unlikely to improve in the near future, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The carmaker is due to report full-year 2024 financial results on February 20.

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