Stuttgart-based Daimler said on Friday its Mercedes Benz offshoot sold 185,836 vehicles in July, representing a 2-per-cent fall compared with the same month last year.

Underscoring the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the German automotive industry, Mercedes-Benz’s wholesale passenger car sales slumped by 16.2 per cent in the first seven months of the year compared with the same period in 2019.

Monthly wholesale sales of Daimler’s compact urban Smart passenger cars plunged by 61 per cent to 3,539 units in July, with the brand undergoing a conversion to electric vehicles.

Daimler reported last month that its net loss widened to 2 billion euros (2.4 billion dollars) during the second quarter compared with a year earlier as lower customer demand resulted in a fall in revenue.

The company’s van business remained a bright spot, with sales of 838,970 units, a 8.5-per-cent monthly gain.