Mercedes-Benz has pushed back their big electric vehicle goals.
Last Week, Mercedes-Benz Group held their Financial Results 2023 shareholder event. While the results were mixed with some good numbers and some poor ones, there was one major takeaway – EVs aren’t doing as well as they had predicted.
Back in 2021, as part of their Ambition 2039 strategy, the company revised its Financial Plan based on an assumption that xEV share of sales would be up to 50% of their sales numbers by 2025 and that new cars would be the all fully-electric by 2030.
New Goals, New Deadline
Now the company says that xEVs will only make up 50% of their sales numbers by 2030. This pushes back their goal by 5 years and it’s a little doubtful that even this new goal is realistic. Right now, Mercedes-Benz says that battery electric vehicles make up only 11% of their total sales numbers. If you include plug-in hybrids, that number is under 20% – not even halfway to where they need to be for their initial 2025 goal.
PHEVs are starting to lose their appeal for Mercedes-Benz customers. In 2023, PHEV sales dropped by 12.5% versus 2022. The slack was picked up by a 61.3% spike in demand for EVs over 2022 numbers. That being said, a 61.3% increase only amounted to 240,668 units, which is not enough to be a main driving force for a company with such lofty electrification goals.
What does this all mean?
For now it’s pretty simple – EVs are having their moment, but there’s less demand that many initially predicted. What’s more, the explosion in growth is probably going to peter out soon rather than fully replacing the demand for petrol, diesel and mild hybrid vehicles in the short to medium term.
”Mercedes-Benz continued its transformation in 2023, developing new cutting-edge electric and digital innovations, while scaling electric vehicles and delivering solid financial results. In other words, the team once again came through to execute our strategy in challenging times, delivering the eSprinter and the new E-Class. At the same time, we prepared the ground for next-generation products and platforms like VAN.EA and MB.OS. to keep Mercedes-Benz at the forefront of the industry.”
Ola Kaellenius, Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
