"Demand is huge at Mercedes-Benz and at the same time there are unfortunately severe limitations," he told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "For some models the waiting times are longer than we would like, in some cases over a year."

Kaellenius repeated a previous forecast that the troubles with chip supply plaguing automakers worldwide would continue into 2023, as structural problems as well as pandemic-induced lockdowns in key supplier countries persist.

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Louise Heavens)