2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36
Mercedes is still well behind BMW and Audi in China. But the Stuttgart-based company has started to catch up. This year alone, 100 dealers in 40 cities are to be added.
Daimler is aiming for stronger growth in China this year than the eleven percent of last year. In his race to catch up in the world's largest car market, 100 dealers in 40 other cities are to be added this year, as China board member Hubertus Troska told the dpa news agency in Beijing on Thursday. "That makes me confident." In the first quarter, Mercedes made a sales jump of 47 percent to 64,100 cars sold in China. Troska reiterated that more than 300,000 cars will be sold in China next year.
With Mercedes aiming to overtake its rivals Audi and BMW worldwide by 2020 and become number one, business in China must run even better. "We can't be as far behind as we are now," said Troska about the race in China, where Audi and BMW have been on the market for much longer and are also achieving higher growth rates. But Mercedes is progressing “bit by bit”.
Decent sales of electric cars planned
With their Chinese partner BYD (Build Your Dream), the Swabians also want to produce “decent quantities” in electromobility. At the international auto show in Beijing, the Stuttgart-based company wants to present the jointly developed Denza electric car in a world premiere. "China has the potential to become the largest market for electric cars," said Troska. The political will and the necessity are "extremely pronounced" in China.
"We are convinced that there is a real opportunity here in the market," said the China boss. Together with BYD, the Stuttgart-based company has invested around 300 million euros in the development of the five-seater Denza, which has a range of up to 300 kilometers. "This is a serious attempt, not a show," said Troska. A specially developed long version of the C-Class will also be presented at the trade fair in Beijing, as the Chinese want a lot of space in the rear seats.
Create an efficient sales network
With the new models, additional dealerships and the new sales structure, Troska was “very confident that we will grow faster than last year”. On average, two new dealers are opened every week in the sales network in China. "This is the largest network expansion that has ever been made worldwide." He was also satisfied with the restructuring of sales structures in China after two competing organizations had been merged. "I have the feeling that we are on the right track."
According to Chinese expert Jia Xinguang from China Automotive Industry Consulting, Mercedes still has to make some efforts to catch up with the competition in China. “Audi and BMW have been developing products specifically for the Chinese market for a long time, which Mercedes did not initially do,” said Jia Xinguang. The establishment of an efficient sales network has also been postponed too long. "It will be some time before Mercedes catches up with Audi and BMW." (dpa)
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