S-Class Sales Article
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 37
Likes: 1
From: TX
2015 S550
S-Class Sales Article
Did anyone else see this....
There's a link to the article but it says you need a subscription.
"With sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class down 23 percent in the United States, and off nearly 12 percent worldwide, Daimler officials are showing concern. The luxurious S-Class is the most profitable model in the lineup, contributing up to an estimated 25 percent of Daimler's pre-tax profits, the drop is getting painful. With the exception of the new C-Class (up 38 percent), overall sales for the German automaker have fallen in the first six months of the year. In response, Daimler is diverting shipments of vehicles to China and Russia as those emerging markets have yet to see a slowdown. "
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/14/t...ss-sales-fall/
There's a link to the article but it says you need a subscription.
"With sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class down 23 percent in the United States, and off nearly 12 percent worldwide, Daimler officials are showing concern. The luxurious S-Class is the most profitable model in the lineup, contributing up to an estimated 25 percent of Daimler's pre-tax profits, the drop is getting painful. With the exception of the new C-Class (up 38 percent), overall sales for the German automaker have fallen in the first six months of the year. In response, Daimler is diverting shipments of vehicles to China and Russia as those emerging markets have yet to see a slowdown. "
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/14/t...ss-sales-fall/
Last edited by jbanks; Jul 15, 2008 at 10:51 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,071
Likes: 2
2007 S600
The overall economy and gas prices lauching upwards is fully to blame from my perspective. Just about everyone is hurting. My business has slowed down a tad due to this. Just recently it has picked up momentum but precisely in April when the price of gas went from $3 to $4 seemingly overnight is when we had a sudden economic downturn.
Anyway, thanks for the update.
Anyway, thanks for the update.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,271
Likes: 1
From: CA
2010 CL65
The high-end recession is more widespread than just US or just S-Classes....
Vaguely recall reading in ?'06 that S-Class is only ?10% of global MB unit sales but accts for some 35-40% of oper profits....and one can only imagine how much more profitable are S65/63/600 than the various econo-S-Classes (let's not forget that ?majority of S-Classes sold in RoW are various, lower-margin econo-S-Classes; US buys some 60-70% of world's 65s)....
New F mkt in US has notably softened in recent mths....
London mkt is arguably best proxy for 3rdWorld wealth consump (many affluent guys from Russ/Chinida/Mideast have wkend houses in Lond where they buy/keep their interesting cars, as their primary homes tend to be inhospitable vs high-end commuter cars b/c of security issues; poor rds/fuel/weather, etc)....and mkt for new F/AMGs in Lond has already softened signif....
IIRC, NetJets yr-over-yr growth in flt hrs consumed is roughly flat....
Interesting times indeed at various pts in global economic spectrum...
Vaguely recall reading in ?'06 that S-Class is only ?10% of global MB unit sales but accts for some 35-40% of oper profits....and one can only imagine how much more profitable are S65/63/600 than the various econo-S-Classes (let's not forget that ?majority of S-Classes sold in RoW are various, lower-margin econo-S-Classes; US buys some 60-70% of world's 65s)....
New F mkt in US has notably softened in recent mths....
London mkt is arguably best proxy for 3rdWorld wealth consump (many affluent guys from Russ/Chinida/Mideast have wkend houses in Lond where they buy/keep their interesting cars, as their primary homes tend to be inhospitable vs high-end commuter cars b/c of security issues; poor rds/fuel/weather, etc)....and mkt for new F/AMGs in Lond has already softened signif....
IIRC, NetJets yr-over-yr growth in flt hrs consumed is roughly flat....
Interesting times indeed at various pts in global economic spectrum...
Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
From: CA
CLS550
Interesting times indeed.
Mercedes can borrow time with their heavy discounts, but they're really just borrowing from future sales. As bad as MY08 was, MY09 could be even worse for the auto industry. I didn't know that the S class was off that much.
It'll be interesting to see if non-marginal property in CA declines significantly - we'll have to give it another 6-18 months to tell for certain in my opinion.
Mercedes can borrow time with their heavy discounts, but they're really just borrowing from future sales. As bad as MY08 was, MY09 could be even worse for the auto industry. I didn't know that the S class was off that much.
It'll be interesting to see if non-marginal property in CA declines significantly - we'll have to give it another 6-18 months to tell for certain in my opinion.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,071
Likes: 2
2007 S600
What would this decline in sales do to the value of our current used cars? Slow down or speed up depreciation? Looks like if the market is getting less flooded with cars from the dealerships, our cars would hold value a bit more OR because of the discounts from the front end might cause our cars to drop faster in value. I don't know
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 663
Likes: 6
In my mind, the economy has nearly everything to do with what is going on with the S-Class, the luxury segment and the automotive business in general. YTD, the S-Class is down about 23% and the S segment is down more than 35%. Lexus is also down almost 35%, Jaguar down almost 40%, Audi down 25%. BMW is down about 5% but they are on their last legs with the current 7er and as nice as the car is, it is in give-away mode until the new 7 launches. All-in-all, the S-Class is fairing pretty well in the efforts to weather the storm. What is equally interesing is what is happening on the psychological side of things and the perceptual influences of having large luxury crs and SUVs. This has the potential to be a significant issue going forward and will influence the car buying decision. times, they are quite interesting.
