The BBA Iron Triangle firmly dominates the luxury car market, but even so, the three sworn enemies have never stopped chasing after me. In particular, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have been trying to compete for the first throne for many years, and the annual sales data released by the two at the end of the year often become a hot topic in the car market.
A few days ago, Mercedes-Benz announced that its global sales of 2.093 million units in 2021, down 5% year-on-year, of which Mercedes-Benz sold 758,863 new vehicles in China, the largest single market, down 2% year-on-year. On the side of the old rival BMW, there is news that global sales will reach 2.2 million vehicles in 2021, although BMW has not officially released data so far, but considering the cumulative delivery of more than 1.93 million vehicles in the world in 2021Q1-Q3, an increase of 17.9% year-on-year, it has far exceeded Mercedes-Benz.
It is worth mentioning that this is the first time since 2016 that BMW's global sales have returned to the first place. Mercedes-Benz's luxury label and trident label have always been sought after by the Chinese people, but why was it surpassed by BMW in 2021?
Mercedes-Benz officials faced this topic and did not give a direct answer, and the anecdotal analysis said that it was mainly due to the lack of cores. It is undeniable that the global semiconductor supply chain has been greatly affected by the impact of the epidemic, and the vast majority of car companies have a hard time without cores. But it is in this case that it reflects the solidity of BMW's supply chain system, and ultimately creates a sales performance that rises against the trend.
In addition, BMW's sales force Mercedes-Benz, and another major reason is that the product itself is more attractive, and the main models 3 series, 5 series, and X3 are indispensable. In particular, the BMW 3 Series topped the 2021 luxury mid-level car No.1 in the Chinese market, far exceeding the mercedes-Benz C-Class with the same positioning.
In addition, Mercedes-Benz's quality problems have also caused a certain impact on their own reputation and sales, from the recall list released by the State Administration for Market Supervision and Administration last year, Mercedes-Benz pressured a number of luxury brands, and the number of recalls ranked first. For luxury brand consumers, quality is obviously an important factor that cannot be ignored.
However, when the time came to the end of 2021, Mercedes-Benz announced the "comprehensive electric" transformation, launched 5 new energy products in one go, especially the flagship pure electric intelligent model EQS, with its outstanding appearance and luxury equipment has attracted much attention, while BMW's new cars such as iX and i4 in the field of new energy have been generally revered due to the use of oil to electricity platform.
Considering that the penetration rate of the new energy market is increasing year by year, do you think Mercedes-Benz can regain the championship title of luxury car market through the power of new energy products in 2022?