Reporters Yin Limei and Tong Haihua reported from Beijing
"2021 is a year of strategic progress for Mercedes-Benz. There are three figures that illustrate the full pace of our transformation: sales of high-end car series increased by 30%, electric vehicle deliveries of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles increased significantly by 64%, and our adjusted EBITDA increased by 105%. This is a powerful demonstration of the potential of the Mercedes-Benz brand and our entire team. On February 24, at a conference call after the release of the company's financial results for the 2021 fiscal year, Ola K llenius, chairman of the board of directors of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said.
On February 24, Mercedes-Benz disclosed operating data for the 2021 fiscal year (ending December 31, 2021) at the company's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. According to the financial report, in fiscal 2021, the turnover of the Mercedes-Benz Group reached 168 billion euros, an increase of 8.88% year-on-year; the net profit was 23.4 billion euros, an increase of 485% year-on-year. Excluding the already separate Daimler Trucks & Buses segments, Mercedes-Benz achieved a net profit of €14.2 billion for the full year; earnings per share rose 280 percent to €12.89. From the operating data, it can be seen that Mercedes-Benz in 2021 can be described as "full of harvest".
In Conlinson's view, behind the good performance of Mercedes-Benz in fiscal 2021 is the result of the company's excellent product portfolio and good used car business and other factors. "In 2021, the Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles segment achieved a full-year adjusted sales margin of 12.7%, and although the COVID-19 pandemic and semiconductor supply chain bottlenecks still impacted the business, since 2019, the Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars business segment has reduced fixed costs by 16% and bicycle turnover has increased by 26%, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and semiconductor supply chain bottlenecks. The average is 49,800 euros per vehicle. ”
At the earnings call, Kang Linsong responded to a question from a reporter from China Business Daily about what contributions the Chinese market has made to the good performance in fiscal 2021. Kang Linsong said, "In 2021, our revenue in the Chinese market has performed well, and the global proportion has increased compared with previous years. China is our most important market and we believe we will maintain this position in 2022. In my opinion, the Chinese market will continue to maintain a good momentum of rapid growth in the future, and we will also practice the positive development in China through attractive products. ”
The reporter noted that in 2021, Mercedes-Benz ushered in several technical milestones: the launch of 4 pure electric models, and obtained the world's first conditional automatic driving (L3) system certification. Among them, the flagship luxury pure electric model EQS is widely acclaimed, and the model has currently received orders for about 20,000 units, including about 3,600 units in January 2022. Mercedes-Benz plans to launch a new line of all-electric models in 2022, including the all-new EQE and the all-new EQS electric SUV.
According to the financial report data, in 2021, the total turnover of the Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and light commercial vehicle business segment for the whole year was 109.648 billion euros, an increase of 11% year-on-year; adjusted EBITDA was 13.914 billion euros, an increase of 105% year-on-year; and the adjusted profit margin on sales reached 12.7%.
However, it can be seen from the financial report that behind the beautiful operating performance, Mercedes-Benz in 2021 is also affected by the shortage of global semiconductor supply. According to the data, the total sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2021 decreased by 5% year-on-year to 2.3302 million units. Among them, passenger car sales were 2.055 million units, down 5% year-on-year.
Although total sales have declined, under the pressure of "lack of core", Mercedes-Benz has played a "beautiful battle" in high-end products in 2021.
According to the earnings report, Mercedes-Benz's high-end car series including Mercedes-Maybach, Mercedes-AMG, G-Class, S-Class Sedan, GLS SUVs and EQS set new sales records in 2021. Moreover, since June 2021, in addition to the supply shortage in October, Mercedes-Maybach's monthly sales in China have increased to more than 1,000 units. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz light commercial vehicles are also continuing to promote the electrification strategy, and the sales of pure electric models have increased by more than 1 times year-on-year. Mercedes-Benz's adjusted sales margin for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles rose to 12.7 percent from 6.9 percent in the year-ago quarter.
"At this time, we still cannot predict when the semiconductor supply bottleneck will be eliminated." Mercedes-Benz expects semiconductor-related supply shortages to continue to affect market developments in 2022. "The visibility of semiconductor supply is increasing, and production is gradually increasing. Still, highly volatile and selective bottlenecks remain. The Group expects the relevant supply situation to stabilize in 2022 compared to last year. Mercedes-Benz continues to work with suppliers to ensure semiconductor capacity and develop cutting-edge technologies to create new generations of chips. Cooperation with suppliers includes reaching more specific agreements on supply quantities, extending planning cycles, and establishing safety stocks at multiple points in the supply chain and sources of supply. ”
Towards 2022, Mercedes-Benz is cautious. It said that in 2022, the market demand for Mercedes-Benz passenger car products is expected to remain strong. However, given the uncertainty arising from the current tight supply chain, the Group is generally cautious about sales expectations.
"Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales are expected to be slightly higher than in 2021 in 2022. The sales mix is expected to remain favorable, with high-end car sales expected to grow 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 in 2022. Used car performance is expected to return to regular levels but remain good. The Company's investments in real estate, plants and equipment, as well as R&D spending, are expected to be slightly higher than in the previous year, mainly due to investments in the platform architecture MMA and AMG.EA for all-electric models. Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars cash conversion rates are expected to be between 0.8 and 1.0, and the adjusted sales margin for the business segment is expected to be 11.5% to 13% in 2022. Mercedes-Benz said.
Mercedes-Benz expects its light commercial vehicle sales to be slightly higher than the previous year in 2022. According to it, van.EA, a new integrated pure electric model platform covering all segments of light commercial vehicles, is currently in the development stage and is expected to be on the market by 2025. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz's existing fuel model platform is also being further upgraded. The adjusted cash conversion ratio is expected to be between 0.6 and 0.8. Mercedes-Benz Light Commercial Vehicle expects adjusted sales margins of 8% to 10% in 2022.
In terms of profitability indicators, Mercedes-Benz expects that in 2022, the group'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.
"With a clear year-round trajectory, 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.
(Editor: Zhang Shuo Proofreader: Yan Jingning)