Mercedes-Benz Cars Global Deliveries : 2025-2026 (H1)

After a 9% fall in 2025, 2026 is currently down 7%. Not unexpected as it seems to be the norm for the industry, even at the premium end. 

Mercedes-Benz divides it's sales into three categories, Core, Entry and Top End, all of which lost ground fairly evenly.

Data & photo source: Mercedes-Benz.

Regions: Traditionally strong regions of Europe and North Amercia are doing well. The fly in the ointment is Asia. China is still an important market, but is less so with each passing year. The Rest was also down (11%) but accounts for just 5% of global deliveries.

Electric: Counting full electric and hybrid cars, 168,812 deliveries were made in H1. EVs are up 28% and PHEVs (hybrids) down 32%. Combined, that's a 7% fall in volume. In 2025 deliveries remained the same as the year before.

I'm surprised with PHEV deliveries dropping so much. They are now neck and neck with EVs.

Mercedes-Benz Vans Global Deliveries : 2025-2026 (H1)

Mercedes-Benz Vans is a very important part of the company. It's unusual for a premium marque to also have a commercial vehicle (CV) wing, but it works.

Commercial vans were up 3% in H1, passenger vans down 19%. Combined, vans were down 1%.

Europe (including Germany) has 72% of total sales and is up 6%. North America is also up 6% YTD. Asia have fallen quite dramatically, especially China. 

Electric van deliveries came to 16,194, up 39%. This is an area M-B is and will prioritise. 

Data & photos source: Mercedes-Benz (Sprinter & Vito).

Mercedes-Benz Vans Global Deliveries : 2023-2025

It seems an odd fit for the premium marque M-B to also have a van range but they do and it is successful. Their brief foray into pick up trucks was a spectacular flop so they retreated back to what does work for them. 

M-B actually made the first working van in 1896. The modern day van range started with the L 319 in 1956. So vans are part of M-B's DNA.

On to recent history. In 2023, wholesale deliveries were up 10 to 447,790. 2024 reached 405,610 units but that represented a drop of 9%. 2025 recorded an 11% reduction in deliveries. 

Regions: Europe (without Germany) is down 13% and Asia (without China) is up 12%. North America (-28%) and China (-25%) have pulled things down. When combined, 70% of sales are Europe/Germany.  

Van classed as commercial vehicles account for 83% of the volume and passenger vans 17%. The Sprinter contributed 189,000 sales to the total, the Vito/V-Class 140,600 and the Titan/T-Class 29,700.  M-B is to end the Titan/T-Class range in 2026 and focus on the more profitable larger vans. 

Electric van sales came to 27,488 units in 2025, up 46%. That is still just 7.7% of total van deliveries but at least they are improving. 

Conclusion: M-B has a strong brand image and the van range does that no harm at all. Moving away from small vans is a smart move, something the company is also doing with its car range.  

Data & photos: M-B. For passenger cars, simply click here.

Mercedes-Benz PC Global Deliveries : 2023-25

M-B has two divisions, Car and Van. Here we consider the former and the van article comes next. How is M-B managing in a somewhat volatile environment?

To the right, there is a chart showing quarterly wholesale delivery figures. Quarterly volumes don't vary much at all. 

In 2023, it was the same as 2022 with slowish start and moderately successful second half. In 2024, a similar pattern but this time a -3% total.

For 2025, a different trend, one reflected in many car companies. That is an acceleration of fewer deliveries. This led to a -9% end of year result. Time to break it down further.

M-B divides model deliveries into three main categories, Entry, The Top End is holding up best and it's the most profitable segment, therefore not so bad.

The Entry and Core models were both down 10%. Mercedes is moving away from lower priced models to focus on its higher margin cars to increase profitability. I never understood why they ever went to the lower end of the premium market.

Region: Only the 'Rest' is up, 17%. Germany is too but still registered a zero. Europe (less Germany) is down ever so slightly at -2%,. 

Asia (less China) -6%. North America is down 12% but the real negative is China (-19%). No surprise with the latter and maybe a good thing too.

Moving on to electric and hybrid cars. The chart to the right shows the last thee years. They were up 9% in 2023, down 9% in 2024 and the same in 2025.  

Planning ahead for this area of the market has not been easy. Their adoption hasn't been as great as expected and incentives come and go.

For 2025, hybrids were up 9% to 199,877 but cars that are fully electric are down 9% to 168,823. 

Many car companies have pulled back on how much they commit to this area, both in model development and production levels. Financial returns are not good enough in this area to justify it. 

In conclusion, M-B is in the same situation as many other car makers. Volumes are down and there is a trend to move more up market. Chinese competition has arrived and even premium car makers are cautiously watching developments. 

Data & photos: Mercedes-Benz. 

Mercedes US Model Sales : 2023/24

If there is one thing German marques do well in and that's complexity. It is at least partly fueled by intense competition and entering every niche they can think of. 

Looking at the list to the right bears this out and not all models available are here. Merecedes-Benz can point to the success they enjoy as justification and I can't deny that. It's a complex world and I believe at some point that becomes inefficient. 

Moving on, the GLE and GLC are the best selling passenger vehicles. Vans are combined and collectively they are up there with strong sales although they took a hit in 2024, taking them from top to third. The CLS and A-Class have been discontinued.

Data & pictures: Mercedes-Benz.

Sales for the year were the same as last year. The best performing models were the GLC (picture above) which was up 58% and the GLA up 65%. The CLE (picture below) arrived in 2024. 

Mercedes-Benz Global Deliveries : 2022-23

Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales were the same in 2023 as the year before, well a tad lower but nothing in it. China held up to be the top region again but with a reduced lead. North America was up but Asia (less China) and the rest were down.

Light commercial vans were up 9% with Europe and North America doing the best. However, all regions improved. Vans now make up 18% of deliveries, up from 16.7% in 2022. Adding vans to the total gave Mercedes -Benz a 1.5% overall increase. 

Electric cars increased from 117,800 deliveries to 222,600. That was an increase of 73% on a year earlier. They now contribute 11% of total passenger car sales, up from just under 6% in 2022. 

Mercedes-Benz vs BMW : 2022

Is there a battle between MB and BMW for bragging rights? Both companies watch each other closely and the media certainly compares them. Profit is what capitalism is all about but it's usually sales where the focus is with us, the public. 

Mercedes: 2,043,900 deliveries, -0.5% or half a percent down. China made up 37% of the total, Europe without Germany 20%. I'm sure that's considered a satisfactory result considering how things are at present. 

BMW/MINI: 2,393,615 deliveries, -4.9%. China 33% of the total, Europe without Germany 26%. Again, they won't be disappointed. Regional figures released by BMW (see below) include MINI. 

BMW Automotive Group: Breaking things down, the BMW marque sold 2,100,692 cars, down 5.1%. So BMW as a brand outsold Mercedes, the gap now 56,800, which is tiny allowing for the overall volumes involved.

MINI deliveries were 292,923 and -3.0%. Again a reasonable result. Below is added a buoyant Rolls Royce, bringing the total to 2.4 million units. 

A man training his dog where to cock his leg. Not nice.

UK Regional Penetration 2019 : Mercedes & BMW

SW England, a fine holiday destination

Below is a chart that has the UK divided into regions (England) and countries that show how these two marques are doing. The chart also has a ratio number by which the chart is sorted (1:1000). The higher the ratio, the further up the chart. The three countries each have a different colour and the England divisions are green.

Mercedes-Benz is strongest in South West England and the London area. It definitely has a southern leaning, where a disproportionate amount of the wealth in the UK is situated. The countries outside of England and the North East England are where M-B is weakest, basically some of the less fortunate areas when it comes to disposable income. The Great British divide, which has worsened in more recent times.

	Mercedes Benz
	Region	Sales	1:1000
	South West England	29,131	107.1
	London	15,056	94.1
	East Midlands	14,875	90.5
	South East England	42,794	87.6
	Yorkshire & Humber	12,153	64.7
	North West England	14,848	63.0
	East England	14,064	62.6
	West Midlands	12,998	55.1
	Wales	3,839	47.9
	Scotland	8,222	46.3
	North East England	2,907	42.3
	Northern Ireland	1,988	38.9
	Total	172,875	73.7

BMW is less understandable in how it fares. It is the top selling brand in Yorkshire & Humberside, and its 15.6% share is very high. In London, it is not very popular nor the East Midlands. The countries outside of England are again not good.

	BMW
	Region	Sales	1:1000
	Yorkshire & Humber	29,344	156.2
	South West England	26,293	96.7
	East England	20,324	90.5
	North West England	16,520	70.1
	West Midlands	15,855	67.2
	North East England	4,540	66.1
	Scotland	10,832	60.9
	London	8,671	54.2
	Northern Ireland	2,677	52.3
	South East England	24,805	50.8
	East Midlands	7,362	44.8
	Wales	3,571	44.5
	Total	170,794	72.8

Data source: DTI.

Mercedes Brand Grobal Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Mercedes production data for 2011 was not provided so I sourced what I could as best I could. Therefore gaps in 2012 do not represent nothing doing, but that I don't know for certain. Like BMW, production went up from 2.0% to 2.2%, coming in 13th and one behind the arch rival premium marque.

Mercedes has a broader spread of manufacturing facilities than its Bavarian competitor. That said 63% of all cars and light commercials are made in the homeland. China doesn't figure that highly compared to other premium marques.

11	12	13	14	Nation	2011	2012	2013	2014	%
1		1	1	Germany	1,150,861	1,107,563	1,156,345	1,184,173	63%
2		2	2	USA	148,253	166,848	185,026	232,712	12%
-		4	3	Hungary		41,035	109,263	150,290	8%
4		3	4	China	87,757	96,839	123,449	150,039	8%
5		5	5	RSA	54,961	45,327	50,287	45,881	2%
-		8	6	Finland			7,609	45,842	2%
3		6	7	Spain	90,222		33,842	41,989	2%
7		7	8	Austria	7,123	9,850	12,675	15,066	1%
-		-	9	Slovenia				11,998	1%
-		9	10	Russia			963	2,393	0%
6		-	-	Argentina	16,379
8		-	-	Portugal	2,013
				Other		132,118
				Total	1,557,696	1,599,580	1,679,459	1,880,383	2%

Data source: OICA.