Mercedes-Benz reveals deliveries fall as new emissions standards bite
News comes shortly after automaker said finance chief Bodo Uebber to step down
Deliveries of Mercedes-Benz cars dropped 8.6 per cent in September from a record level last year, the company said on Monday just hours after it acknowledged that finance chief Bodo Uebber will step down from automaker.
The September figures reflect a headache felt across the industry, as carmakers struggle to certify their fleets for new emissions standards, called WLTP, that took effect last month. Audi said on Friday that deliveries in Europe had fallen 56 per cent.
Daimler, the world’s largest premium carmaker, will need all hands on deck to deal with myriad challenges at the moment. Its stock price is depressed, it must invest more in electric and autonomous technology, and it faces trade war battles. Earlier this year it issued a profit warning.
So it came as a blow when Mr Uebber said he would not to extend his contract and would be leaving the company next year. Daimler confirmed the news late on Sunday but declined to say more.
Analysts did not take it well. “Daimler without Bodo is like Starbucks without coffee,” Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst titled a note to clients on Monday. “Given his experience, leadership and reputation in the financial community, his departure will be a big loss.”
Mr Uebber’s decision comes less than two weeks after chief executive Dieter Zetsche announced he would resign next year and hand the steering wheel to R&D chief Ola Kallenius.
Mr Uebber, a board member since 2003, has long been the face of Daimler to analysts and investors. He was seen as a possible candidate to succeed Mr Zetsche and oversee the “new Daimler AG” that will sit atop the cars, trucks and finance divisions which are being legally separated.
It is not yet clear if Daimler will let Mr Uebber fulfil his duties to December 2019. With Mr Zetsche departing next May, but poised to become chairman of the supervisory board two years later, “there is a risk of a prolonged period of decision vacuum at Daimler,” Mr Ellinghorst said.
In the September report, deliveries in Europe last month fell 9.4 per cent to 91,609 cars. The steep fall took total sales this year into the negative, albeit marginally: Mercedes-Benz has sold 1.811m cars this year, down 0.4 per cent from record levels last year.
Daimler said all of its cars were certified as of September 1 — the date WLTP took effect — but deliveries could not be made on time.
“It is our goal that our customers can look forward to the delivery of their new vehicles as soon as possible,” said Britta Seeger, head of Mercedes-Benz sales.