HAGI MERCEDES-BENZ CLASSIC INDEX

From its inception at 100 at the end of 2011, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Index took 5½ years to double in value, hitting 201.57 in June 2017. Ever since then, though, the MBCI has remained very firmly within a sideways trend channel, oscillating just 5% or 10 points either side of that 200 mark. Within this phase the MBCI did climb to a new peak of 209.99 in September 2019, while on the low side it has consistently found support when it dips to around the 190 level… though currently the MBCI is sounding the bottom of the trend channel at just 188.07.

While other marques, as well as the overall market (HAGI Top), all peaked rather sooner – from as early as November 2016 in the case of Porsche, through to the close of 2018 for other segments – the overall picture of a sideways trend channel is uniform across the board. However, there is a notable distinction in the case of the MBCI, and it’s all about bandwidth. In short the MBCI trend channel has proven to be narrower, oscillating within a 10% range, while other segments have been operating in a channel with an amplitude approaching close to 20%. And 20% means less stability and more variance.

Another way to express it, therefore, is to say that Mercedes-Benz is simply less volatile than other market segments and this characteristic owes much to the diversity of its classic back catalogue, with a significantly wider range of collectable models and a broader span of price points compared with other marques and segments. While elsewhere a single icon model can account for 20% or more of the capitalisation of a marque’s investment-grade models, this is not the case with Mercedes, which offers choice at all levels of the market.

See www.historicautogroup.com for more.