The "hope of the whole village" for Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles has been missing from the sales list for two months.

If you were to describe the newly released domestic new car sales list for January 2026 in one sentence, it would be "unexpected yet reasonable."

It's reasonable because the purchase tax exemption policy phased out at the end of 2025, and January is always a slow sales month. The industry and the market had already anticipated a decline in sales. What's unexpected is that the sales of most brands declined more than expected. Even for popular mainstream models, it's not uncommon to see a month-on-month decline of over 50%.

However, in the dismal car market, there are still a few models with special circumstances that deserve special attention. For example, the Mercedes-Benz all-electric CLA has had no retail sales data for two consecutive months.

The so - called retail sales data comes from the industry sales data of the China Passenger Car Association and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Wholesale sales data often appears alongside it. The difference is that the former is the number of vehicles sold at the terminal reported by dealers to manufacturers, while the latter is the number of vehicles sold in bulk directly from the factory reported by the manufacturer itself.

Back to the all - electric CLA, as the first model on Mercedes - Benz's new all - electric platform, it was called "the hope of the entire village" by Duan Jianjun, the President and CEO of Beijing Mercedes - Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd. in the all - electric vehicle race. This pioneering all - electric model of Mercedes - Benz's new generation was launched in November 2025. Data shows that both its retail and wholesale sales were 1,369 units in the first month after its launch.

For a brand - new model, especially a compact all - electric sedan priced from 249,000 yuan, the all - electric CLA's sales of over 1,300 units in the first month after its launch met expectations. However, surprisingly, there was no retail sales data for December 2025 and January 2026, and there was also no wholesale sales data for December.

It's worth noting that neither Beijing Benz nor Mercedes - Benz China has rarely mentioned the specific sales data of the all - electric CLA since its domestic launch.

“One possibility is that the first batch of all - electric CLAs produced by the manufacturer hasn't been fully sold yet, so dealers haven't ordered new cars, resulting in no retail sales data for the all - electric CLA for two consecutive months, and the manufacturer also has no new wholesale sales data to report.”

On February 12th, a person familiar with the automotive industry's sales data told Yuan Auto that although the all - electric CLA has been “missing” from the retail sales list for two consecutive months, it doesn't mean that no new cars have been sold. “It can be seen that the all - electric CLA had 682 terminal sales in December, and the terminal sales data for January (2025) hasn't been released yet.”

The source of the terminal sales data is different from that of retail and wholesale sales data. It may come from the insurance data of new cars' compulsory traffic accident liability insurance. It should be noted that the total terminal sales of the all - electric CLA in November and December were 1,241 units, which is roughly in line with the sales data of 1,369 units reported by dealers and the manufacturer in November.

The rather strange sales data of the all - electric CLA after its launch may be in line with its new sales model. Previously, there were reports that the all - electric CLA adopted an order - oriented model within Beijing Benz, no longer “forcing” dealers to take in cars as in the traditional model, thus reducing the inventory pressure on dealers.

Anyway, all signs indicate that the all - electric CLA is losing momentum in the market.

Although the all - electric CLA has excellent power consumption control and range performance, and has also made up for the shortcoming in assisted driving by cooperating with the local supplier Momenta, its starting price of about 250,000 yuan poses great market challenges.

Looking at Chinese brand competitors in the same price range, with a starting price of 250,000 yuan, there are many mid - to large - sized sedans, mid - sized SUVs, and station wagons from mainstream brands to choose from. Considering the all - electric CLA's positioning as a compact sedan, it's obvious that its pricing still includes a high brand premium.

Even, the all - electric CLA priced at 250,000 yuan makes the "elder brothers" EQE and EQE SUV at clearance prices seem more cost - effective.

Taking the EQE, a mid - to large - sized sedan, as an example, on February 12th, Yuan Auto learned from several Beijing Benz 4S stores that this "all - electric E - Class" in the 500,000 - yuan category had a good sales performance when its terminal price dropped below 300,000 yuan. Almost every car that arrived at the store was sold immediately.

Third - party retail sales data shows that the Mercedes - Benz EQE sold 1,563 units in the month when the all - electric CLA was launched (November 2025), more than the total sales from January to October 2025.

For many salespeople at Mercedes - Benz 4S stores, the all - electric CLA has become a "stressful" model every month. It is reported that many salespeople at Mercedes - Benz 4S stores have sales targets for the all - electric CLA. However, since the car implements a very strict national unified price policy, salespeople have few ways to promote order conversion.

If Mercedes - Benz hopes to boost the market performance of the all - electric CLA without engaging in a price war, perhaps following the market trend and introducing financial plans such as "zero interest for 5 years" or "low interest for 7 years" is a worthy option to consider.

After the all - electric CLA, Mercedes - Benz will further expand its new - generation all - electric product matrix in China this year. Models such as the all - electric GLC, which cannot afford to fail, will gradually enter the domestic market. To prove that it's not an "unknown brand" in the electric - vehicle market in terms of sales, Mercedes - Benz needs to recognize the situation and abandon its previous high - price illusions.

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This article is from the WeChat official account "Yuan Media Hub," author: Pan Zhuolun. Republished by 36Kr with permission.