c4004matic

Selling like hotcakes!
https://electrek.co/2023/07/11/mercedes-benz-ev-sales-grew-over-600-last-quarter-us/

capt_slow

I wonder what percentage of that are leases and what are purchases. MBFS was pushing a lot of incentives to get the EQS out for much of Q2.

ILoveNY

I heard they gave huge discount on the EQs

Utopia Texas

Once the initial small group of folks that can afford to buy a MB EV do so sales will drop off a cliff.

ILoveNY

it depends on the feedback...

if those people are happy then their friends will buy MB EQ

if those people just wanted to go cheap, and the car don't drive like a mercedes, then as you said there will be a cliff for MB EQ

Utopia Texas

I am going by the fact that many Americans are living pay check to pay check and credit card debt is at a all time high. EV’s are not going to sell to the masses as a second car until they are in the 35k range. Not everyone makes a million dollars a year like folks on this forum….😊

LAZARU5

I have had my EQS SUV for nearly nine months and over 18K miles. In that time I have never seen another EQS SUV on the road except for once at an EA charging station in California. Contrast that with Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles which are ubiquitous. MB may be happy with the EQ rollout, but I don't think it can be characterized as, "Selling like hotcakes!"

capt_slow

I would agree. I have a strong suspicion the strong sales numbers are inflated due to:

1. Introduction of the various models between Q2 2022 and now. The 608% growth is easy when your starting point is near 0 units sold.
2. Extreme sales support from MBFS, especially to leases. At one point, MBFS was giving about $600K in trunk money to each dealer as long as they sold 48 EQ cars. Combined with $13K in lease-only incentives, you could drive away in a EQS sedan for the equivalent lease payment of a Honda Accord.

March to May was the peak EQ leasing craze and since then I have seen a significant increase of them on the road. MBFS has since pulled much of the sales support to the models and the leasing community is reacting accordingly. Dealers are finding it tough to sell the cars. It makes sense to me, my 450 sedan simply isnt worth the $115K MSRP, but I will gladly lease one at $480/month.

ILoveNY

Yep I think the numbers are heavily inflated as well.

Even Ola was concerned with the EQ brand hurting the MB brand as a whole, They wouldn't sell well without the help from MBFS

Radman991

I agree. My dealer in RI says they are not selling well at all. Too expensive for the general population. In fact I don’t think they even have one to sell on their lot. My salesman said they traded a few away to other dealers because they could not sell them.
I winter in SE Florida and saw 3 EQS vehicles on the road from December to May. In RI I have only seen one EQS on the road since early May. Like previous poster pointed out I have seen tons of teslas and more rivians than electric Mercedes.

AppleFan1

Since when has Mercedes sold their vehicles to the masses? The answer is probably never. People living from paycheck to paycheck do not purchase a Mercedes. Mercedes targets their sales to the upper middle class and above.

hyperion667

Being a lover of food, I have always wondered if a hotcake is any good or not.

nosnoop

Majority of the EQ models released in US so far are not for the "general population".

The highest selling ICE car for Mercedes by far is GLE and GLC.
So it would be interesting to see the sales figure for EQE SUV in the next few quarters.
And the next gen EQC SUV (or whatever it may be called if they drop the EQ part) in 2025 would be crucial to the Mercedes EV endeavor.

Utopia Texas

You made my point. They will never be large sellers.

js_cls

Other than the Taycan and startups, luxury EV's seem to be tough in sales. Mercedes, BMW, and Audi all seem to have to incentive and lease their EV's out.

c4004matic

In fact tge numbers are not inflated at all. EQ cars have gone from 0 to 15% of MB sales in one year. Not bad at all. In fact much better than even MB expected which is why they also introduced a slew of new gas models. Its not like S clases sell like candy either!

c4004matic

Mercedes is a car company in it for the money not to become another VW or Toyota. That slice of the market is already taken.

ILoveNY

I heard leasing an EQS is now cheaper than leasing a GLB... if that's true, then we know why MB got 15% of its sale from EQ

AppleFan1

But my point is that Mercedes doesn’t need to be a large seller. However, as c4004matic pointed out, going from about 0 to 15% in one year is impressive.

js_cls

To be fair, there was only 1 EQ model (EQS Sedan) in Q2 2022 versus the now 5 available models (3 of which are SUV's) in Q2 of 2023, a large growth like this was inevitable.

The lease rates and incentives must be strong on EQS-Models as the EQE-Models surprisingly didn't outsell the more expensive EQS-models.

js_cls

I don't think the introduction of new models has anything to do with EQ sales, these models have been in development for years.

While the numbers are indeed good, I'm sure on the financial side they are likely not as strong. EV's are known to be harder to make a profit on, and selling at large discounts/incentives likely doesn't help.

dtd

How much can I get the EQE sedan now? Would that be 10% off from MSRP ? The new BMW will start from $68K while the EQE sedan will start around $76K.

capt_slow

10% off MSRP would be good nowadays. Your best bet is to lease the car to unlock EV incentives ($7500 EV lease credit, $4500 Sam's Club or Amex credit) and then stack that on top of the 10% off MSRP you just negotiated. Add in MSDs to lower your interest rate on the lease (or do a One Pay) and you'll be in pretty good shape. If leasing isnt your thing, lease it anyway to cash in on the incentives and just buy out the lease later. Gives you time to decide what it's like to LIVE with the car, something a 20 minute test drive wont tell you.

dtd

Good advice, I've never done car leasing in my life before. I will take a look at this option. You have a very good point. Thanks.

abhansali

I think EV education is a big part of this also. People don't realize that you should install an L2 charger at home and use that for daily use around town and use superchargers when traveling, etc.

I have had the valets at the dealership ask me where I charge my car and if I could talk to some regular ICE customers looking at the EV. MB doesn't bundle an L2 charger or even have one available to purchase and dealers have no idea how to get one installed in a house. As a result there is general fear around charging and so someone looking at an EV will typically default to Tesla since they are famous for their charging network.

In my opinion MB would do themselves a big favor by partnering with big nationwide electrical services companies and offering a charger and installation bundle with the car. In addition, the work they are doing to adopt NACS and build a network with all Tesla competitors is a big deal also.

​​​​​I think the luxury car market in the current economy with high interest rates is pushing people to leasing and so that is why the incentives are being offered there vs. purchasing the car.