- Mercedes sales dropped 9 percent in Q2 as it struggled with global trade unrest.
- US sales were down 12 percent, and deliveries in China tanked by 19 percent.
- EV sales dropped by almost a quarter, but Mercedes hopes new CLA EV will help.
As automakers like Audi contemplate moving production to the US to escape the pain of import tariffs, Mercedes’ Q2 sales figures serve as a reminder of the impact President Trump’s move had.
Mercedes sales dropped 9 percent overall in the three months to the end of June versus the same period in 2024. It shifted 453,700 passenger vehicles this Q2 compared with 496,700 in the last one. Tariffs weren’t the only reason for that decline, but they certainly played a part, and they did it twice over.
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US sales of Mercedes cars and SUVs sank 12 percent to 74,600 during a period in which imports of cars from Europe were hit by higher import tariffs. Though Mercedes builds key models like the GLE and GLS in its Alabama plant, it sources many more models lines including the E-Class, S-class and GLC from Europe.
And although their US origin saved the GLE and GLS from the immediate effects of Trump’s tariffs, they were impacted indirectly. Because when Trump announced tariffs on goods from China, the Asian country replied in kind by announcing tariffs of its own on goods from the US. As a result, Mercedes sales in China sank by a whopping 19 percent to 140,400 in Q2.
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But Mercedes sales would have fallen in China even if Trump’s provocative actions hadn’t spoiled trade harmony between it, the US and Europe. In Q1, before the tariffs came into effect, the brand reported Chinese sales had dropped 10 percent.
Mercedes also revealed sales of its EVs have fallen alarmingly this year. Deliveries of battery-powered cars are down 24 percent in Q2 (to 35,000) and 19 percent in the first six months of 2025 (to 75,700). But the automaker did try to strike an optimistic tone by claiming that orders for the new CLA, which has an EV option, were “gaining momentum” and reminding us that more variants of that car, plus the new electric GLC, will arrive later this year.
It also highlights the strong growth in plug-in hybrids, whose sales were up 34 percent globally, helping electrified cars account for 40 percent of all Mercedes models sold in Europe and 21 percent across the globe.
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