Mercedes-Benz vows to reclaim leadership from BMW

The new local boss of German luxury brand Mercedes-Benz has vowed to reverse its sales slide and reclaim leadership from arch-rival BMW.

Jaime Cohen, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific since April 1, is running a business that in 2024 is on track to have shed 50 per cent of its Australian sales compared to its record result in 2017.

Back then, according to VFACTS, 37,068 Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and SUVs were registered in Australia.

After six months of 2024, 9613 have been registered, which equates to an annual total around 18,000.

Compared to 2023 alone, Mercedes-Benz Cars registrations are down 24.1 per cent.

BMW claimed local bragging rights from Mercedes-Benz in 2023 for the first time since 2012, recording 26,184 registrations to 24,315.

Of course, both were comprehensively outsold by electric vehicle brand Tesla in 2023, which competes in premium segments with its Model 3 and Model Y, but these are more mainstream prestige cars rather than luxury.

BMW has stretched the gap over Mercedes-Benz in the first half of 2024, tallying 13,641 registrations, in part because of the popularity of a range of EVs eligible for fringe benefits tax concessions.

Asked at last week’s media launch of the new Mercedes-Benz CLE and Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 if reclaiming leadership from BMW was part of his plan for Benz’s local sales renewal, Cohen was emphatic: “We will. We will.”

“I welcome that they [BMW] are there,” he added. “Let them enjoy they are there.

“It’s good to have this rivalry that we have had with them for so many years.”

But Cohen said reclaiming top position might take some time.

“That is what we have to build. There is a path, in a few years we will have what we need and let’s see. We are working towards that,” he said.

He also clarified that the number-one sales position was not a key performance indicator (KPI) set by his superiors.

“It’s not a KPI,” he said. “It’s more like, ‘Hey, Jaime, you should look at how we go back to number one, regardless of who is there.

“‘If it’s our Bavarian friends, good, or someone else okay, let’s find a way to get back to number one.’”

The Benz sales decline in Australia has been commonly attributed to multiple factors: withdrawing from less profitable but higher-volume entry-level models and segments, significant price rises especially during COVID and the switch to the agency sales model from 2022 onwards.

“There’s a combination of factors that plays into what’s happened and how things go,” said Cohen. “It’s not just one thing.

“We are making a lot of changes and we are going be bouncing back and getting up there.

“The car you see today [CLE] is that and there are a few other models we are bringing in that will help us with that transition again towards growth.

“We are pretty confident we have a strong product line, we have a strong history and we will get back on top.”

But Cohen conceded that sales targets threatening 40,000 were no longer the goal for Mercedes-Benz in Australia.

“We are a different company now,” he said. “We aspire, of course, to a larger volume but we will not get to a larger volume with a lot of pricing actions and these sorts of things.

“We will do it by selling what we know we have – which is a great product with great technology and great value and learning how to communicate that better and stronger to our customers.

“It’s a longer path but I think we have what we need to do this.”

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