raspy
Active Member
@Boyband It's quite an extreme question to pose, in terms of whether MB can survive the UK market. You also mentioned Audi and BMW (I'll come back to those later)
Thanks for sharing your insights from your network. Making forecasts about the future is cool, but apart from anecdotal evidence, I'm curious what objective data you have found? For example, if it were the case that the market share for MB has been dropping rapidly every year for the past 10 years and if that trend were to continue, then the forecast that they won't survive in the UK market is a plausible one.
However, from the data I've looked at online, I can't see anything suggesting that MB will not survive the UK market.
Let's take a look at some statistics;
In the year to date, according to SMMT data on UK car registrations;
MB 7.12% market share
Audi 7.15% market share
BMW 7.18% market share
Only two manufacturers registered more cars than these 3 premium brands (Ford and VW) and if you added up MB, Audi and BMW, their registrations combined would eclipse Ford and VW combined.
Even if these 3 premium brands didn't survive the UK market, I'm curious what you think would happen. Would the new cars buyers of these 3 premium brands simply be buying cars from another brand, or would they stop buying new cars altogether?
Let's go back a few years and using SMMT car registration data again at April 2017, in the year to date, the 7th most registered car was the MB C class, above the Mini, VW Polo and Nissan Juke!
Fast forward to April 2021, using SMMT car registration data for year to date, the 3rd most registered car was the MB A class, above cars like VW Golf and in April 2021, more A classes were registered than Ford Fiestas!
I'm personally not a fan of the A class (yes, I've driven them), but I can see why it appeals to so many new car buyers, especially if the "monthlies" are competitive.
I would also be interested to see the customer surveys you cited, regarding problems with electrics. You cited poor residual values for Mercedes. Where is that data from? Do you have a link to it? I am really interested in seeing how it has been derived.
With respect to MB UK selling their dealerships (they only own one remaining retail group in the UK, that's London), and moving to an agency sales model, that's just part of a larger industry trend, it's a trend that is happening around the globe with multiple manufacturers, not just in the UK.
Finally, regarding new models being launched by MB over the next few years, not all of the EVs will be based upon new platforms. The EQA/EQB both use a modified MFA platform. The EQS/EQE will be using the new EV MEA platform though.
Also to clarify, neither do I work for Mercedes, nor do I hold Daimler stock.
Thanks for sharing your insights from your network. Making forecasts about the future is cool, but apart from anecdotal evidence, I'm curious what objective data you have found? For example, if it were the case that the market share for MB has been dropping rapidly every year for the past 10 years and if that trend were to continue, then the forecast that they won't survive in the UK market is a plausible one.
However, from the data I've looked at online, I can't see anything suggesting that MB will not survive the UK market.
Let's take a look at some statistics;
In the year to date, according to SMMT data on UK car registrations;
MB 7.12% market share
Audi 7.15% market share
BMW 7.18% market share
Only two manufacturers registered more cars than these 3 premium brands (Ford and VW) and if you added up MB, Audi and BMW, their registrations combined would eclipse Ford and VW combined.
Even if these 3 premium brands didn't survive the UK market, I'm curious what you think would happen. Would the new cars buyers of these 3 premium brands simply be buying cars from another brand, or would they stop buying new cars altogether?
Let's go back a few years and using SMMT car registration data again at April 2017, in the year to date, the 7th most registered car was the MB C class, above the Mini, VW Polo and Nissan Juke!
Fast forward to April 2021, using SMMT car registration data for year to date, the 3rd most registered car was the MB A class, above cars like VW Golf and in April 2021, more A classes were registered than Ford Fiestas!
I'm personally not a fan of the A class (yes, I've driven them), but I can see why it appeals to so many new car buyers, especially if the "monthlies" are competitive.
I would also be interested to see the customer surveys you cited, regarding problems with electrics. You cited poor residual values for Mercedes. Where is that data from? Do you have a link to it? I am really interested in seeing how it has been derived.
With respect to MB UK selling their dealerships (they only own one remaining retail group in the UK, that's London), and moving to an agency sales model, that's just part of a larger industry trend, it's a trend that is happening around the globe with multiple manufacturers, not just in the UK.
Finally, regarding new models being launched by MB over the next few years, not all of the EVs will be based upon new platforms. The EQA/EQB both use a modified MFA platform. The EQS/EQE will be using the new EV MEA platform though.
Also to clarify, neither do I work for Mercedes, nor do I hold Daimler stock.