Mercedes says China buyers sticking with ICE models as EVs take off

Mercedes-Benz said it remains the go-to brand for top-end vehicles in China, where luxury buyers continue to favour internal combustion engine (ICE) cars like its flagship S-Class sedan even as EV sales take off. 

“In China, the top luxury level is still very much an internal combustion engine world and we are the undisputed leader,” Mercedes CFO Harald Wilhelm said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding “we should serve that demand but we definitely plan same the thing for electric vehicles”.

After decades at the top in the world’s biggest car market, Mercedes and German peers BMW and Volkswagen are falling behind local competitors as EV demand surges. Shenzhen-based BYD became China’s best-selling carmaker in the first quarter, dethroning VW for the first time in decades. 

Still, Mercedes retains the crown for combustion-engine vehicles costing between 1,000,000 yuan (roughly R2.64m) and 2,000,000 yuan (roughly R5.3m) with as much as 50% market share in that segment, Wilhelm told reporters during a first-quarter earnings call. Last year, the Stuttgart-based company sold more than half of its 22,600 ultra-luxury Maybach models, which start at around $200,000 (roughly R3.66m), to China’s elite. 

“We will take that strength progressively into the electric-vehicle world,” Wilhelm said. 

The S-Class also remains popular with opulent rear-seating arrangements geared towards chauffeur-driven owners. Chinese buyers have been less taken with the S-Class’s electric sibling, the EQS. Mercedes last year drastically cut prices in China for the model after disappointing sales. 

Mercedes on Friday said momentum is returning to the Chinese car market as demand picks up after coronavirus lockdowns. 

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