Following a sharp decline in Chinese sales last year, Mercedes-Benz maintains a cautious market outlook for the coming years. "In China, we are pursuing clearly defined, ambitious, yet realistic goals," CFO Harald Wilhelm stated during the virtual Annual General Meeting on Thursday. "Over the medium term, we are targeting an annual sales volume of 500,000 to 600,000 vehicles in China," he added, referring to the core passenger car business. Last year, deliveries for the brand with the three-pointed star fell by 19 percent to 552,000 units. This downward trend accelerated in the first quarter, with sales dropping by 27 percent.

The Stuttgart-based automaker has already signaled that this year's performance is expected to fall below prior-year levels once again. This is attributed to intense competition as well as ongoing model transitions. By 2027, Mercedes-Benz plans to launch seven new models specifically tailored for the Chinese market. According to Wilhelm, margins will remain at lower levels for the time being. After reaching a 15 percent margin in 2024, the figure stood at just over ten percent last year. "Against the backdrop of a challenging market environment and the continued ramp-up of electric mobility, we expect the margin to settle in the high single-digit range over the medium term," Wilhelm said.

(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, edited by Ralf Banser. For inquiries, please contact the editorial management at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)