EV sales were a bright spot with sales of EQ-badged cars nearly doubling to 23,500 units.
The first half saw the brand’s EV sales rising to 45,400 units — an increase of 134 percent.
“The electric ramp up is gaining traction,” Seeger said. “It shows that we offer compelling electric vehicles our customers desire.”
In total, Mercedes delivered 490,000 passenger cars from April to June, down 16 percent from the same period last year.
The smaller Mercedes-Benz Vans business remained just under last year’s level with 100,000 units sold worldwide in the second quarter.
Mercedes is sticking with its 2022 forecast for a slight increase in sales compared with 2021. Despite concerns about rising inflation, “customer demand remains high,” Seeger said.
The auto industry is still feeling the pain of supply-chain disruptions and shortages of components such as semiconductors, particularly amid a broad transition to electric vehicles that are dependent on increasingly sophisticated software.
BMW said last week that its sales declined almost 20 percent in the second quarter.
Reuters contributed to this report