Mercedes-Benz sets out long-term ambitions as the world’s most valuable luxury car brand

Mercedes-Benz will recalibrate its product portfolio, allocating more than 75% of its investments to develop products for the most profitable market segments with an aim of becoming the most valuable luxury car brand. As part of this sharpened strategy, Mercedes-Benz aims to grow the sales share of its Top-End vehicles by around 60% by 2026 versus 2019 and intends to achieve higher quality growth and a further significant increase in profitability and resilience, striving for an operating margin target of approximately 14% by mid of the decade in favourable market conditions. This greater focus on the top end of the market should enable the company to deliver strong financial results even under more challenging market conditions. The company’s strategic decision to become fully electric by 2030 – wherever market conditions allow – and the ambition to become CO2-neutral by 2039 are integral elements to enhance the connection between luxury and sustainability.

What has always been the core of our brand is now also the core of our strategy: the luxury segment. We are further sharpening the focus of our business model and product portfolio in order to maximise the potential of Mercedes-Benz even in challenging conditions. At the heart of that is our goal to build the world’s most desirable cars,

Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

“What has always been the core of our brand is now also the core of our strategy: the luxury segment. We are further sharpening the focus of our business model and product portfolio in order to maximise the potential of Mercedes-Benz even in challenging conditions. At the heart of that is our goal to build the world’s most desirable cars,” says Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

Enhanced and elevated product mix as a pure-play company – future focus on three product categories
The increased focus on luxury follows rising customer demand in this segment. In 2021, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class posted an increase of 40%, while Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach likewise set new records. Mercedes-Benz intends to use its brand’s power even more effectively in a growing luxury market. Going forward, the company anticipates disproportionate growth in the Top-End vehicle segment and will use this as an opportunity to reconfigure the structure of its product portfolio.

In future, Mercedes-Benz will concentrate on three product categories: Top-End Luxury, Core Luxury and Entry Luxury. In the Top-End Luxury segment, the product portfolio encompasses:

• all vehicles from the Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach brands
• the Top-End models from Mercedes-EQ, including the EQS and the EQS SUV
• the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and G-Class models as well as the full-size luxury GLS limited edition models and exclusive collaboration vehicles

On the evening of May 19, the Vision AMG will be unveiled and will offer an insight into the all-electric future of the performance luxury brand Mercedes-AMG – based on the dedicated AMG.EA architecture for fully electric AMG models. All of the Vision AMG’s drivetrain components are developed entirely from scratch: not only the platform itself but also the dedicated high-performance high-voltage battery and the revolutionary drive technology. The powerful heart of the Vision AMG is its innovative Axial Flux Motor developed by Mercedes-Benz’s wholly-owned subsidiary YASA. With its compact and lightweight design, it delivers substantially more power than conventional electric motors.

Mercedes-Maybach is expanding its product offering in the Top-End segment, led by the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV, which is scheduled for market launch next year. In addition, the preview of a Mercedes-Maybach SL reveals more about the future opportunities of the company’s most exclusive brand.

Electrification across the board is also evident in the legendary “G”. The all-electric G-Class will be the first Mercedes-Benz vehicle to feature advanced battery cell chemistry from Sila Nanotechnologies as an option. Furthermore, steps to expand the G product family are being evaluated.