BERLIN -- Mercedes-Benz has stopped new orders for its E-Class sedan in Germany amid the global shortage of semiconductors.
The automaker is struggling to cope with rising demand for the car, German media reports said.
A Mercedes spokesman said the order freeze was for "built to order" E-Class sedans and was only for the German market.
"New vehicles in stock can still be ordered," the spokesman told Automotive News Europe in an email.
The order freeze has been in effect since Friday of last week.
Previously, the German newspapers Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten had reported the news.
The E-Class wagon can still be ordered.
A next-generation E-Class is planned for next year, but no more information on its launch is available. The current model was revised in 2020.
Mercedes' global deliveries of all its models fell 5 percent to 2.05 million last year, mainly due to the semiconductor crisis, which has squeezed production. The E-Class is the brand's best-selling model.
At the end of January Mercedes said it was no longer accepting orders for the G-Class offroad vehicle.
Mercedes is not the only automaker dealing with the chip shortage.
Volkswagen has introduced an EV quota for dealers that favors larger delaership groups as some customers wait up to a year for their cars.
