By Victoria Waldersee
BERLIN (Reuters) -German premium carmakers reported sales at or above forecasts for 2023, with BMW topping deliveries but Mercedes-Benz set for the highest returns margin, in a sign of varying strategies towards going electric.
Volkswagen’s Audi began closing in on competitors with total unit sales of 1.9 million vehicles, but battery-electric sales remained far behind at 178,000 to BMW’s of more than 375,000 and 240,600 at Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes said on Thursday its fourth-quarter sales took a hit from supply constraints and model changeovers, but full-year car deliveries were in line with its forecast at 2 million.
Its group sales rose 1.5% to just under 2.5 million, but fourth-quarter sales were down 3% for the group and 4% in the cars division as a shortage in 48-volt battery systems and a model changeover for its E-Class limited output.
The carmaker warned over the course of 2023 of supply snags and inflation weighing on sales, with price wars particularly in the electric vehicle segment placing pressure on margins.
Its battery-electric passenger car sales rose 73% over the year to 222,600, but battery-electric sales of its smart fortwo and smart forfour models fell 12%.
Still, it has said it expects to hit the lower end of its 12-14% forecasted adjusted returns margin when it reports full-year financial results on Feb 22.
BMW, which hit record sales of over 2.5 million cars this year, set expectations lower with an earnings margin forecast of 9-10.5% but has said it expects to hit the higher end of that range.
Audi has promised a boost in this year’s electric car sales as a series of new models, including the Q6 e-tron – originally due for release in 2022 – are due to hit the market.
Its margin is forecast at the lower end of 9-11%.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Miranda Murray and Alexander Smith)
