Sales of high-end vehicles increased by 30 percent, deliveries of electric models to passenger cars and light commercial vehicles surged by 64 percent, and adjusted EBIT increased by 105 percent..." 2021 was a year of strategic progress for Mercedes-Benz. Conlinson said. In response to a question from a reporter from China Economic Network, he further emphasized, "We have made good progress in electrification, digitalization, including software, and we will continue to increase investment in 2022 to further accelerate development." ”
Among them, "the Chinese market is still our most important market," Kang Linsong said, "the Chinese market is in a leading position in electrification and digitalization, Chinese customers are very interested in new technologies, and we will continue to strengthen research and development." ”
"We are confident in 2022. In addition to our continued focus on cost efficiency and supply chain management, our strategic focus will be to continue to increase investment in pure electric models, accelerate the implementation of our plans in the automotive software field, and continue to promote the growth of the luxury car business. Conlinson said.
"2021 is a year of strategic progress for Mercedes-Benz." At the 2021 fiscal year results briefing held yesterday (February 24), Kang Linsong, chairman of the board of directors of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said. In response to a question from a reporter from China Economic Network, he further emphasized, "We have made good progress in electrification, digitalization, including software, and we will continue to increase investment in 2022 to further accelerate development." ”
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and semiconductor supply chain bottlenecks on the business over the past year, Mercedes-Benz has enjoyed a fruitful year with an excellent product portfolio, stable net pricing, continuously improved cost efficiency and a well-performing used car business thanks to a series of strong reform initiatives.
Conlinson, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-Benz Group AG (right), and Halad William ( left ) , a member of the Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer , jointly released the earnings data
3 Digital Highlights Transformation at Full Speed The Chinese market is still crucial
"There are three numbers that illustrate the full speed of our transformation: sales of high-end car series increased by 30%, electric vehicle deliveries of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles increased by 64%, and our adjusted EBITDA increased by 105%." Coninson said.
Among them, "the Chinese market is still our most important market," Kang Linsong said, "the Chinese market is in a leading position in electrification and digitalization, Chinese customers are very interested in new technologies, and we will continue to strengthen research and development." It is reported that last year, Mercedes-Benz's new technology research and development center was officially opened in Beijing, further strengthening its research and development layout and technical research and development strength in China, the world's largest automobile market.
In terms of Group performance, Mercedes-Benz's turnover in 2021 will reach 168 billion euros, of which continuous operations account for 133.9 billion euros. Profit before interest and taxes (EBIT) was EUR 29.1 billion, with continuing operations accounting for EUR 16 billion. Adjusted EBITda, reflecting the underlying business, was EUR 19.2 billion. Net profit of €23.4 billion, with continuing operations accounting for €11.1 billion; Excluding the previous Daimler truck and bus related business, net profit rose to 14.2 billion euros.
Strong profitability further translates into a stable level of free cash flow. Mercedes-Benz Group's industrial free cash flow for 2021 is 8.6 billion euros, and the adjusted industrial free cash flow is 10.9 billion euros. Even after the spin-off of Daimler Trucks, net liquid assets in the industrial business amounted to €21 billion.
Affected by the "lack of cores", the total sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and light commercial vehicles decreased by 5% year-on-year to 2,330,169 units, of which Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales were 2,054,962 units, down 7% year-on-year. However, high-end car series such as Maybach, AMG, G-Class and S-Class cars still set new sales records. This directly pushed Mercedes-Benz's adjusted sales margin for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to 12.7% from 6.9% in the same period last year.
It is worth noting that this is the first financial report release after the name change of Mercedes-Benz. On February 1 this year, the former Daimler AG was officially renamed Mercedes-Benz Group AG, and the independent Daimler Trucks & Buses business segment was successfully listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in December last year. To this end, the data in Mercedes-Benz's financial statements are divided into businesses that are in continuous operation and businesses that have ceased to operate. At the press conference, Mercedes-Benz repeatedly stressed that all the data released this time are preliminary accounting results that have yet to be audited.
Mercedes-Benz flagship luxury pure electric model EQS
Sustained change has achieved remarkable results, and the implementation of the strategy will be accelerated in 2022
With the completion of the group's split, Mercedes-Benz will further focus on the luxury passenger car business, which is crucial for the future development of Mercedes-Benz in the context of century-long changes and the epidemic of the century. In fact, since Con linsong took office in 2019, it has vigorously promoted the transformation and reform of Mercedes-Benz, on the one hand, adjusting the company's structure, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, on the other hand, accelerating the pace in the fields of electrification and digitalization.
Today, a series of strategic layouts have laid a solid foundation for Mercedes-Benz to cope with current challenges, uncertainties, and future accelerated development. Since 2019, the Mercedes-Benz passenger car business segment has reduced fixed costs by 16%, while bicycle turnover has increased by 26%, averaging 49,800 euros per vehicle.
In terms of electrification, Mercedes-Benz announced last year that it would shift from "electric first" to "full electric", and launched 4 pure electric models to further enrich the product lineup; Among them, the flagship luxury pure electric model EQS is widely acclaimed, and has received about 20,000 orders so far. This year, Mercedes-Benz also plans to launch a series of new pure electric models, including the new EQE and the new EQS pure electric SUV.
For this year's development trend, Mercedes-Benz expects that the supply shortage related to semiconductors will continue to affect the market, but the situation will stabilize compared with last year. At the same time, the market demand for passenger car products is expected to remain strong, and Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales are expected to be slightly higher than the previous year's level, of which high-end car sales are expected to increase by more than 10%. Net pricing is expected to improve further, but it will not fully offset the negative impact of higher raw material prices. Used car performance is expected to return to regular levels but remain good. Mercedes-Benz passenger car cash conversion rates are expected to be between 0.8 and 1.0, and adjusted sales margins are expected to be 11.5% to 13%.
For the Group, it is expected that this year's turnover will be slightly higher than the turnover level of the continuous operating business in the previous year, and the EBIT will be the same as the previous year. The free cash flow of the industrial business will be slightly lower than the level of the 7.9 billion euros of the continuous operations in the previous year.
"We are confident in 2022. In addition to our continued focus on cost efficiency and supply chain management, our strategic focus will be to continue to increase investment in pure electric models, accelerate the implementation of our plans in the automotive software field, and continue to promote the growth of the luxury car business. Conlinson said. (China Economic Network reporter Guo Tao)