Mercedes-Benz sold 1.01 million vehicles worldwide in the first half of 2026, a 6% decline from a year earlier, as the German automaker grappled with a sharp downturn in Chinese demand.
Deliveries in China, a crucial market for premium brands, fell 28% to around 210,000 units, with the combustion-engine segment suffering particularly steep losses in the second quarter. Overall second-quarter passenger-car sales dropped 8% to 417,800 vehicles. However, the company posted significant electric-vehicle gains: global battery-electric sales surged 51% to 52,900 units in the quarter, with European EV deliveries jumping 87%.
Mercedes-Benz found stronger footing in Western markets. European sales rose 5% to 325,000 vehicles in the first half, while North American deliveries climbed 15% to 180,900. The van division delivered roughly 174,000 units over the six-month period. The sales headwind follows a difficult 2025, when annual profit nearly halved to 5.3 billion euros.