daimler-ir-interimreport-q1-2020

C | INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT 7
According to recent estimates, the market for heavy-duty
trucks in the EU30 region (European Union, United Kingdom,
Norway and Switzerland) recorded a sharp contraction of
around 25%. In Brazil, demand for heavy-duty trucks was
affected by the overall economic downturn and was slightly
below its prior-year level. In Japan, sales of heavy-duty trucks
remained comparatively stable and were roughly at the level of
the first quarter of last year.
Bus markets also developed weakly as a result of the crisis.
According to the latest estimates, demand for heavy buses fell
significantly in the EU30 region, and the Brazilian market also
declined significantly in the first quarter.
Significant decrease in total unit sales
In the first quarter of 2020, Daimler sold 644,300 cars and
commercial vehicles worldwide (Q1 2019: 773,800). C.01
After a good start to the year, Mercedes-Benz Cars concluded
the first quarter with sales of 470,600 vehicles (Q1 2019:
555,300). The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences
of the temporary closure of sales outlets had a significant
impact on our unit sales. In the first quarter of 2020,
189,200 automobiles of the Mercedes-Benz and smart brands
were sold in Europe (Q1 2019: 235,300). In Germany, the
region’s core market, sales of 61,000 units were achieved (Q1
2019: 78,100). In China, the biggest market, 131,600 vehicles
were sold in the period of January through March (Q1 2019:
173,200). Deliveries of 68,500 cars of the Mercedes-Benz and
smart brands in the United States were 7% above the prioryear
level.
Mercedes-Benz Vans recorded first-quarter unit sales of
76,200 vehicles (Q1 2019: 97,000). The significant decrease is
primarily due to the effects of the coronavirus. In the EU30
region, Mercedes-Benz Vans sold 53,100 units (Q1 2019:
66,600). Also in North America, sales of 7,300 vans were significantly
lower than in the first quarter of last year (Q1 2019:
11,700). In the United States, we sold 6,300 vehicles in the
first quarter (Q1 2019: 8,800). Sales in Latin America
decreased to 2,700 units (Q1 2019: 4,200). In China, we sold
4,200 vans (Q1 2019: 6,100). In the other markets, we achieved
growth in unit sales, primarily driven by Russia and African
markets.
Daimler Buses’ sales were also affected by the pandemic and
were down by 8% in the first quarter of 2020 to 5,100 units.
This decrease was primarily the result of the weaker chassis
business in Latin America and lower demand in India. In the
EU30 region, Daimler Buses’ first-quarter sales increased significantly
to 1,300 complete buses and bus chassis of the
Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands (+37%). However, the prioryear
period had been significantly influenced by delays in deliveries
due to a changed internal certification process for
coaches and intercity buses. We achieved double-digit growth
also in Mexico, with sales of 400 units (+17%). In Brazil, our
main market in Latin America, sales decreased significantly
(-14%) to 1,900 units (Q1 2019: 2,200). Our sales in India also
decreased, to 200 units (Q1 2019: 500).
At Daimler Mobility, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,
new business decreased compared with the prior-year
period by 7% to €16.2 billion. Contract volume amounted to
€159.6 billion at the end of March and was thus 2% lower than
at the end of 2019. The insurance business also contracted.
Worldwide, 520,000 insurance policies were brokered by
Daimler Mobility in the first quarter of this year (Q1 2019:
539,000).
C.01
Group unit sales
Q1 2020 Q1 2019 % change
Daimler Group 644,316 773,796 -17
Mercedes-Benz Cars 470,581 555,312 -15
Mercedes-Benz Vans 76,161 97,038 -22
Daimler Trucks 92,468 115,920 -20
Daimler Buses 5,106 5,526 -8
Unit sales by Daimler Trucks of 92,500 vehicles in the first
quarter of 2020 were 20% lower than in the prior-year period.
In addition to the market normalization that had anyway been
expected in our core markets, the development of our unit
sales was affected in March also by customer restraint due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. Our sales in North America declined
by 26% to 35,600 units. In Brazil, we sold 5,000 trucks, a
decrease of 18% compared with the first quarter of last year.
With sales of 13,200 units in the EU30 region (European Union,
United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway), we were hit even
harder by the global market slump (Q1 2019: 19,000). In India,
sales of 2,400 trucks were also significantly weaker than in the
prior-year period (Q1 2019: 5,500). In Japan, however, we
slightly increased our first-quarter sales to 11,700 units (Q1
2019: 11,000). Our sales of 7,900 trucks in Indonesia were in
the magnitude of the prior-year period (Q1 2019: 7,800).