Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz sees 5% sales drop in 2021

BERLIN (Reuters) – Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz sold 2.05 million vehicles in 2021, the company said on Friday, losing its crown for the first time in five years as the premium carmaker with the most vehicles sold to BMW.

The smart brand delivered an additional 38,514 vehicles, while Mercedes-Benz Vans sold 334,210, a 2.5% increase from last year.

Sales of battery-electric vehicles jumped over 90% to 99,301 vehicles, the company said.

The biggest drop in passenger vehicles sales over the year was registered in Europe at 11.2%, compared to a drop of just 2% drop in China and a 0.4% increase in the United States.

BMW said earlier this week it had sold a record-breaking 2.2 million vehicles this year from its BMW brand.

It will release its full annual sales figures next week.

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, editing by Thomas Escritt)