By George Guimarães | 10/9/23 | Translated by Jorge Meditsch
Mercedes-Benz cars’ wheels are not doing well i Brazil. The German brand, which led for many times the premium market or used to be among the three best-selling luxury cars brands, registers a performance much unde rthe market average in 2023.
From January through September, the brand delivered just 3,194 cars, a monthly average of 354 units of the 13 models of its portfolio. In the same period last year, it sold 3,413.
The 7% fall contrasts with the competitors’ ascending curves. Mercedes-Benz is currently behind five other premium brands.
The performance difference calls the attention. Volvo (5.7 thousand units), Audi (4.4 thousand), Land Rover (3.6 thousand) registers grew by 63%, 16% and 35%.
Even Porsche, a very exclusive brand, jumped sprung up and overcame Mercedes and Land Rover at the end of the first nine months. It sold more than 3.9 thousand sport cars and SUVs in Brazil versus 2.4 thousand last year, a 65% increase.
The lead this year is occupied by BMW, as in the last few years. It sold the same as Volvo and Audi together.
Its nearly 10.5 thousand units delivered until September are more than three times Mercedes-Benz’s sales,even though BMW’s sales remained stable compared to last year.
BMW is the only premium brand to produce most of its lineup in Brazil. Land Rover and Audi make some models locally, but in much lower volume.
Mercedes-Benz ceased to manufacture in the country in December 2020. The plant in Iracemápolis, SP, which produced the GLA SUV and the C-Class sedan was closed only four years after inaugurated, according to Mercedes due to high costs and a declinig market
A few months later, the plant was purchased by the Chinese GWM, which would begin to produce there next year an SUV and a pickup.
The Asina brand, which arrived in Brazil in 2023’s second quarter, already passed Mercedes-Benz in the general ranking, even offering vehicles over R$ 200 thousand. From January through September, it sold more than six thousand units, twice the German brand.
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