Commercialization: Marketing & Distribution
German premium car brands handled supply chain woes better than VW
Reuters - 11 Jan, 2023
Premium brands BMW (BMWG.DE), Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) and Audi navigated last year's automotive supply chain challenges better than the mass-market Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) brand, company data showed on Tuesday.
Though the fourth quarter provided universal relief for the carmakers, China's extensive lockdowns early in the year were particularly hard on sales volumes.
Mercedes-Benz recorded the lowest fall in full-year output at 1%, pulled down by the Chinese market, according to a trading update by the luxury carmaker.
Audi's deliveries fell 3.9% to 1.61 million, with Europe the only region to register marginal growth after an 18.7% jump in German sales.
In China, the high-end brand sold 8.4% fewer cars than last year and all-electric sales rose by only 9.8%. That compared with only a 1% drop in Mercedes-Benz total sales and its 143% leap in deliveries of electric and hybrid vehicles.
BMW suffered the largest absolute fall among premium carmakers of 4.8% in brand sales, attributed by the company to supply chain bottlenecks and the Chinese lockdowns that eased towards the second half of the year.
Premium brands BMW (BMWG.DE), Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) and Audi navigated last year's automotive supply chain challenges better than the mass-market Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) brand, company data showed on Tuesday.
Though the fourth quarter provided universal relief for the carmakers, China's extensive lockdowns early in the year were particularly hard on sales volumes.
Mercedes-Benz recorded the lowest fall in full-year output at 1%, pulled down by the Chinese market, according to a trading update by the luxury carmaker.
Audi's deliveries fell 3.9% to 1.61 million, with Europe the only region to register marginal growth after an 18.7% jump in German sales.
In China, the high-end brand sold 8.4% fewer cars than last year and all-electric sales rose by only 9.8%. That compared with only a 1% drop in Mercedes-Benz total sales and its 143% leap in deliveries of electric and hybrid vehicles.
BMW suffered the largest absolute fall among premium carmakers of 4.8% in brand sales, attributed by the company to supply chain bottlenecks and the Chinese lockdowns that eased towards the second half of the year.