Mercedes-Benz will recall 283,000 units from March, how to cause the trouble?

[Introduction: Recently, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation released a document on "Mercedes-Benz (China) Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., Beijing Benz Automobile Co., Ltd., and Fujian Benz Automobile Co., Ltd. Expanding the Recall of Some Imported and Domestic Cars", which attracted the attention of many Mercedes-Benz owners. The recall will be carried out in batches, involving a total of 283,060 domestically produced models and some imported models. 】

Written by Cai Jialun, edited by He Zi

Since March this year, Mercedes-Benz has been busy recalling more than 200,000 vehicles in the Chinese market. Among them, Beijing Benz is involved in most of the recalled vehicles, and plans to expand the recall of some domestic C-class, E-class, and GLC SUV models from March 12 to a total of 203248 units.

Car recalls occur frequently throughout the automotive industry. However, it is worth noting that among the five passenger car recall announcements issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation on February 2, luxury car brands accounted for a relatively high proportion of recalls. This time, a total of 454531 passenger cars, including Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Ford, Volvo and BMW, will be recalled, of which luxury car brands account for 4 seats, and Mercedes-Benz will account for more than half of the recalls.

As one of the main forces in the luxury car market, Mercedes-Benz has always been favored by consumers for its excellent quality and safety performance. The recall incident has undoubtedly affected its brand image to a certain extent. There were two major recalls in a relatively short period of time. This makes one wonder, what exactly is wrong with the quality of Mercedes?

Where there are safety hazards

The imported cars recalled by Mercedes-Benz cover almost all fuel series models, Beijing Benz is a domestic C-class, E-class, GLC three models, Fujian Benz will recall the domestic V-class and Vito cars. This is not the first large-scale recall of Mercedes-Benz, in August 2023, Mercedes-Benz had a recall of more than 200,000 vehicles. The main reason for the two recalls is that the impeller of some vehicles does not meet the requirements of material characteristics, and the impeller is deformed and rubbed against the fuel pump housing, and the resistance increases. In severe cases, the fuel pump may stop working, causing the vehicle to stall while driving, which is a potential safety hazard. From the reason for the recall, it can be seen that some Mercedes-Benz models are not some minor problems, but there are large hidden dangers, after all, the consequences of sudden stalling at higher speeds are unimaginable.

Mercedes-Benz isn't the only company to get caught up in a recall gate due to a fuel pump defect. The large-scale recall of Japanese models in 2019 was directly related to the fuel pump defect, which at that time covered almost all Japanese brands such as Honda, Toyota, Mazda, and Mitsubishi. To a certain extent, car recalls can also erode consumers' trust in brands.

Can Mercedes-Benz's sales hold up?

Although the scale of Mercedes-Benz's recall model is relatively large, it is not caused by the owner's rights protection but takes the initiative to initiate it, find the problem in time and give solutions, from the overall response strategy, Mercedes-Benz does not appear arrogant. However, the frequent occurrence of large-scale recalls will put Mercedes-Benz under some pressure.

In 2023, Mercedes-Benz will sell a total of 765,000 vehicles in China, which is basically the same as the previous year, and then look at the other two of the three BBA brothers, BMW will sell a total of 824,900 units in China in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, beating Mercedes-Benz to top the list of luxury cars, and Audi will sell 728,600 units in China in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%. Although the domestic luxury car market will be extremely involuted in 2023, BMW and Audi have increased their sales, which is enough to put a lot of pressure on Mercedes-Benz. The recall may erode consumers' favorability towards Mercedes-Benz as a high-end brand, and it remains to be seen whether Mercedes-Benz's sales will remain strong in 2024.

As one of the three giants of first-line luxury car brands, Mercedes-Benz has its own pains. In the current era when new energy vehicles continue to impact the market and challenge the inherent position of fuel vehicles, Mercedes-Benz's electrification transformation period is still difficult and long. Mercedes-Benz has invested heavily in electrification and digital transformation, but the EQ series of new energy models launched by many consumers have been ridiculed as "industrial waste" by many consumers.

On the one hand, there are many new car-making forces impacting the high-end new energy market, further squeezing the position of luxury fuel vehicles, and on the other hand, BMW and Audi have accelerated their electrification transformation and won the first battle in the field of new energy. Mercedes-Benz had no choice but to put down its posture, and many of its fuel models had greater discounts, which kept the market. However, with the accelerated development of new energy vehicles in 2024, how long can Mercedes-Benz play the game of exchanging prices for the market?

Comments

This recall may cause fluctuations in Mercedes-Benz's slightly stable development path. The recall is a double-edged sword, on the one hand, it shows that there were previous lapses in product safety control, and on the other hand, it also proves that the car company that voluntarily recalled is responsible for consumers. Although BBA's influence in the luxury car market still exists, the current consumer enthusiasm for new energy vehicles is increasing, and the rise of new forces and independent brands has made Mercedes-Benz, which frequently recalled, feel invisible pressure. While strengthening quality supervision, it is also necessary to accelerate the transformation of electrification, which are the two "compulsory courses" that Mercedes-Benz will do in 2024.

(This article is the original of "Heyan Reading Cars", and may not be reproduced without authorization)