Mercedes-Benz made significantly more profit last year thanks to luxury models and price increases. The group result was 14.8 billion euros, as announced by the Stuttgart carmaker. That was a third more than in the previous year if only the continuing operations are considered.

A billion-dollar special income due to the spin-off of the truck business from Daimler Truck had pushed up the group profit in 2021 to over 23 billion euros.

Mercedes increased sales in 2022 by 12 percent to 150 billion euros. The company delivered slightly fewer cars to end customers, but around 5 percent more were sold in wholesale at 2.04 million. Sales of top models such as the S-Class, cars from the tuning subsidiary AMG and the luxury brand Maybach picked up, which means more returns. Group earnings before interest and taxes, adjusted for special effects, increased by 20 percent to 20.66 billion euros.

For 2023, management is preparing shareholders for less profit in key areas. The company expects prices to rise. The used car business, on the other hand, is expected to be down on the previous year. The forecasts as a whole are subject to an extraordinary degree of uncertainty, Mercedes said. Group sales should be at the previous year's level.