Mercedes-Benz Group has reduced its 2026 sales outlook for its passenger car business and the wider group, while retaining its profitability targets.
The company said unit sales for Mercedes-Benz Cars, and therefore group sales, are now expected to be slightly below 2025 levels.
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Its previous guidance had indicated sales would be in line with last year.
Mercedes-Benz also raised its forecast for electrified vehicles as a share of Mercedes-Benz Cars sales to 23-25%, compared with an earlier 21-23%.
Other guidance was unchanged, including an adjusted return on sales of 3-5% for the cars division and existing industrial free cash flow projections.
The group linked the weaker sales expectation to continuing pressures in China, where competition, lower demand and model changeovers affected performance.
Passenger car sales in China fell 30% against the same quarter last year. In Europe, sales rose 4%, while the US recorded a 10% increase.
Excluding China, Mercedes-Benz Cars posted a 2% rise in worldwide sales.
Quarterly group revenue fell 3.3% year on year to €32.06bn ($36.48bn). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose 21.5% to €1.54bn and net income increased 13.5% to €1.08bn.
Mercedes-Benz Cars sold 417,765 vehicles during the quarter, down 7.9% from a year earlier. The unit’s EBIT fell from €1.22bn to €909m in the second quarter.
Battery electric vehicle sales increased 50.9% to 52,852 units, supported by an 87% rise in Europe.
At Mercedes-Benz Vans, adjusted EBIT was €454m, up 2.9%. Unit sales edged up 0.7% to 94,075 vehicles, while electric van sales rose 46.4% to 10,062 units.
Mercedes-Benz management board chairman Ola Källenius said: “Even in a challenging market environment, we remained on course in the second quarter and accelerated our model offensive.
“The response from our customers to the new models has been very positive: sales of our electric cars increased by 51%, and BEV order intake in Europe more than doubled in the quarter. In the second half of the year, we will focus on bringing more new models to our customers and further improving our cost position and productivity.”
