Mercedes-Benz global sales drop 8% in second quarter, China deliveries plunge 28% in first half
Mercedes-Benz reported an 8% drop in second-quarter car sales, driven by a 28% plunge in China during the first half, while Europe and North America posted gains.
China drags down global sales
Mercedes-Benz sold 1.01 million cars worldwide in the first half of 2026, a 6% decline from a year earlier. The drop was concentrated in China, where deliveries fell 28% to 210,000 units, as a property crisis stifled demand for luxury vehicles. In contrast, Europe grew 5% to 325,000 cars and North America jumped 15% to 180,900. The second quarter alone saw an 8% global slide, with combustion-engine models hit hardest in China.
- Europe
- 5 %
- North America
- 15 %
- China
- -28 %
- Global
- -6 %
Electric models provide a bright spot
While overall sales weakened, demand for battery-electric vehicles was robust. Sales chief Mathias Geisen said orders for the new electric GLC, CLA and GLB were exceptionally strong. The van division also posted a 1% increase in the second quarter, with electric vans recording double-digit growth, though they still account for only about a tenth of that unit's total volume.
Demand for the new electric GLC, the electric CLA and the electric GLB is exceptionally strong.
Cost-cutting and worker unrest
Mercedes-Benz has been tightening its belt. A savings programme launched over a year ago was intensified at the end of June, when the company deferred a collectively agreed special payment to next year. The board told German employees that the working hour must become cheaper, stating that "the most direct and in our view fairest way: we should all work more for the same money in all areas." Tens of thousands of workers protested nationwide last Friday against the austerity measures.
The most direct and in our view fairest way: we should all work more for the same money in all areas.
Financial pressures mount
The sales slump is weighing on profits. Group earnings fell 17.2% in the first quarter of 2026. In 2025, profit halved to €5.3 billion from €10.4 billion, after a bumpy 2024. Tariffs, adverse exchange rates and fierce competition in China have all squeezed results. Full second-quarter financials are due at the end of July. The company's mid-term target of around two million passenger cars is not expected before the end of the decade, and certainly not by 2027.
