Mercedes-Benz sales channel in China

Yesterday (December 17th), Daimler announced that Mercedes-Benz, its subsidiary, has established Beijing Benz Sales & Service Co., Ltd., which integrates the two major sales of imported and domestic cars in China into one, and is set to accelerate the release in the Chinese market. New car to boost performance in China.

Mercedes-Benz sales channel in China

Daimler AG announced that it will set up a joint venture subsidiary, Beijing Benz Sales & Service Co., Ltd. at a 50:50 ratio with its strategic partner Beijing Automotive Group and will be responsible for Mercedes-Benz’s future distribution business in China. At present, Mercedes-Benz imports and domestic cars in China use different sales channels and are respectively responsible for the sales system of Mercedes-Benz China and Beijing Benz.

Daimler and Mercedes-Benz CEO Zechu said: “China is a key factor in the growth strategy of Mercedes-Benz 2020. In order to consistently adhere to our growth strategy in this important market, we The Chinese business has established a sensible seat for Hubertus Troska. With the establishment of the new sales company, we are improving the efficiency of the sales organization and will thus achieve long-term and stable growth."

Beijing Mercedes-Benz sales and service company's functions will include sales and marketing, after-sales, dealer network expansion, used cars and bulk sales, and Mercedes-Benz dealer training in China.

In fact, on June 28, 2011, BAIC and Daimler signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Berlin, Germany. Both parties agreed to deepen cooperation and integration of resources between Beijing Benz and Mercedes-Benz China in China. On July 27 last year, BAIC and Daimler Northeast Asia issued a joint statement on deepening cooperation and resource integration in the Chinese marketing sector, demonstrating that both parties will jointly develop the Chinese market.

As an important step in the integration, Daimler increased its stock ratio in Mercedes-Benz China from 51% to 75% in the middle of this year.

Mercedes-Benz wants to accelerate its expansion in China

Mercedes-Benz China announced that it will promote the “China Sales Initiative 2015” in its 2015 sales expansion campaign in the Chinese market. In the next three years, it will release 20 new and modified vehicles in China, including new Mercedes-Benz B and M, and will be in China. Increase the production of Mercedes-Benz GLK models.

Mercedes-Benz will also embark on vigorously promoting the growth of its dealer network in China. The number of dealers will be increased to 220 in approximately 100 cities. In the future, 50 new distributors will be established each year.

In terms of sales volume, Mercedes-Benz plans to increase its annual sales in China to 300,000 by 2015, of which 70% will be domestic vehicles. In contrast, Mercedes-Benz sold 223,000 vehicles in China in 2011.

Currently lagging behind Audi BMW in China

The official sales data for the three major luxury car brands in Germany in November and November this year are as follows:

The BMW brand sold 145,452 vehicles in November and 115,106 vehicles in November last year, a year-on-year increase of 26.4%. In the first 11 months, the BMW brand had accumulated global sales of 1,388,274 units, compared to 1,252,202 units in the same period of last year, an increase of 10.9% year-on-year. This figure also exceeded the total sales in 2011 (1,380,384 vehicles).

In November this year, Audi sold 123,600 vehicles worldwide, compared with 111,431 vehicles in November 2011, an increase of 10.9% year-on-year. From January to November, cumulative sales reached 1,344,750 units, which represented a year-on-year increase of 12.7% on the basis of 1,193,103 units in the same period last year.

In November, the Mercedes-Benz brand sold 120,346 units, compared with 113,859 units in November last year, an increase of 5.7% year-on-year. From January to November this year, the Mercedes-Benz brand sold 1,194,904 units globally, compared with last year. During the same period, it was 1,136,525 vehicles, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year.

From a global perspective, BMW had the highest sales in the first 11 months, ahead of the second-placed Audi 43,524, which exceeded Mercedes-Benz's 193,370 units, and was 16.2% higher than Mercedes. The fastest growing Audi is 12.7 percentage points over BMW's 10.9%, which is more than double the Mercedes 5.1%. Audi is 149,846 more than Mercedes, which is 12.5%.

The comparison of China's market performance is as follows, showing that China's influence on the rankings of the three major brands:

In November of this year, Audi sold 37,600 vehicles in China (including Hong Kong) compared with 29,861 vehicles in the same period of last year, an increase of 25.9% over the same period last year. Audi sold 370,559 vehicles in the Chinese market in the first 11 months of this year, compared to 283,600 units sold in the first 11 months of last year, a significant year-on-year increase of 30.7%.

The BMW brand sold 29,000 vehicles in mainland China in November, compared with 17,900 vehicles in the same period last year, an increase of 62.0% year-on-year. From January to November this year, the Chinese mainland contributed 275,000 vehicles to the BMW brand, an increase of nearly 30% year-on-year. Mainland China is also the number one single market for BMW brands.

The Mercedes-Benz brand continued its declining trend in the Chinese market in November this year, and the decline was greater than in October. The sales volume of 16,876 units was down 6.6% from the 18,067 units in November last year. In October this year, it was down 3.9% year-on-year, from 16,539 to 15,895. However, cumulative sales in China from January to November were 177,301 units, which was a year-on-year increase of 4.2% compared with 170,112 units in the same period last year.

In the first 11 months of sales in China, Audi was the highest, followed by BMW, Mercedes-Benz even fell in November. Audi is 95,000 more than BMW and more than Benz 193,258. This means that Audi sold twice as much (109.0%) in the Chinese market than Mercedes in the first 11 months. Excluding the Chinese market, Mercedes sales in the first 11 months of the year were 43,412 vehicles higher than those of Audi. Once counted in the Chinese business, it was clearly overtaken by Audi.

Mercedes-Benz has fallen behind Audi and BMW in China for several years. Foreign media believes that Mercedes-Benz's integration of sales channels in China and the acceleration of the release of new vehicles is a response to the status quo and improvement measures.