Mercedes Valued at Roughly Half of BMW

Things are not going well on Mercedes'Mercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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side of Stuttgart. The company's sales might be up, but investors peg the company's value at roughly half that of rival BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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. 

The market capitalization of BMW is €45 billion compared to €42.2 billion for all of DaimlerDaimlerGermany, 1889 > present12 models
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. However when you remove Daimler's other businesses and just look at Mercedes, the market cap is €25 billion. Two years ago, things were very different. Daimler has a market cap €15.5 billion above BMW.

A company's market capitalization is a way of showing how much a company is worth. It is the total value of all of the shares that a company has issued. It is calculated simply by multiplying the share price by the total number of issued shares. 

The problem facing Mercedes is that it is behind the curve in China compared to BMW and AudiAudiGermany, 1909 > present83 models
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, and it has the stigma of being an old person's brand.

A lack of expansion is also holding Mercedes back. BMW and Audi both announced factories in the Americas this year. Audi will build a factory in Mexico, and BMW will open one in Brazil. BMW is also moving to smaller cars with a new front-wheel drive platform that will be shared between it and MiniMINI (BMW)Germany, 2000 > present15 models
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. It will also launch the i3BMW i3Germany, 2011 > present26 photos
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electric car late next year. 

Mercedes is mounting a defense, though a comparatively small one. The new A-ClassMercedes-Benz A-Class Gen.3 [W 176]Germany, 2012 > present33 versions
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has been a success in pre-orders that will likely translate to strong sales. A four-door coupe version of the A-Class called the CLA will also come next year, and it will top its range with a new S-ClassArmstrong Siddeley ThirtyUnited Kingdom, 1919 > 19191 serie
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. 

Source: Automotive News Europe