Mercedes-Benz USA moved 84,500 vehicles in the second quarter of 2026, a solid sequential gain, but the more telling number sits at the top of the luxury segment standings: BMW sold 186,944 vehicles in the US through the first half of 2026 against Mercedes-Benz’s 163,000. That’s a 23,944-unit gap, and Mercedes is in third.
The Q2 result broke down to 75,000 passenger cars and 9,500 vans. Compared to Q1’s 78,500 units, the quarter-over-quarter gain was 8 percent. Year over year, the story is softer: Q2 2026 was down 2.9% against Q2 2025, and the first-half total of 162,900 units trails the year-ago pace by 3.2 percent. Van sales bucked the trend, up 4.4% year over year in Q2 and essentially flat for the half.
Inside those totals, the SUV lineup carried the weight. The GLE posted nearly 30% year-over-year growth in Q2, the strongest single-model performance in the US portfolio. The GLB surged 40%, the clearest evidence that demand for accessible entry-level luxury remains healthy. The GLC, one of the brand’s highest-volume models, added 8% year over year. AMG SUV sales grew 17% for the quarter, and Mercedes-Maybach retail sales were up 25%, with the Maybach GLS cited as a primary contributor.
The AMG brand overall grew just 1.5% for the quarter when cars and SUVs are counted together. The SUV side of AMG is evidently doing the work; the car side is not keeping pace at the same rate.
Vans reported 9,500 units for Q2, up 4.4% year over year and up 12% sequentially from Q1. Year-to-date van volume sits at 17,900 units, fractionally below the year-ago pace at -0.6%.
Globally, Mercedes-Benz Group sold 511,900 cars and vans in Q2, up 2% from Q1, though down 6% from Q2 2025. First-half group volume stands at 1,011,500 units, also down 6% year over year. Group-wide battery-electric vehicle sales grew 50% year over year in the quarter, driven by new model launches including the electric GLC, electric CLA, and electric GLB. That EV acceleration is the number Mercedes’s corporate leadership is leaning on as the second half accelerates.
The US product pipeline for the second half includes the all-electric GLC, a refreshed GLE and GLS, and the new S-Class. If the refreshed GLE maintains anything near its current 30% growth trajectory against the incoming model, Mercedes has a volume story to tell heading into 2027. The S-Class has already posted what the brand describes as a successful European start, with US availability to follow.
The segment context is less comfortable. Lexus sits behind BMW in US luxury standings, and Mercedes has settled into third in a market it once led. The SUV gains are genuine, the Maybach and AMG premiums are holding, and the van business is stable. But a 23,944-unit deficit to BMW through six months is not a rounding error. The second-half offensive, framed by the brand as one of its largest-ever, will need to do more than sustain the current trajectory to change that order.
Source: Mercedes-Benz. Images courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.
