Mercedes-Benz Cars posts new global sales record for August 2012

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Mercedes-Benz sold more vehicles in August than ever before in this month. With a total of 91,316 units delivered, sales were up 4.5% compared to the previous year. Since the beginning of the year, 841,567 Mercedes-Benz passenger cars have been sold (+5.4%) – likewise a new record. At 911,303 units (+5.1%), sales in the Mercedes-Benz Cars division have also reached a new high over the year to date. In August, 97,337 Mercedes-Benz, smart and Maybach brand vehicles were delivered (+4.5%).

Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars: “Demand for our products developed very positively in August. Although we are currently going through a phase of several model changes, in the past month we sold more vehicles than ever before in this period. In mid September our new A-Class will celebrate its market launch. The more than 50,000 orders we have received since mid June show what an outstanding customer response the model is already enjoying. With the new A-Class and the gradual introduction of other new models such as the CLS Shooting Brake and the GL-Class, our sales will gain further momentum.”

As in the year 2012 to date, Mercedes-Benz sales in the NAFTA region in August also reached a new record level. In the U.S. in particular, demand for the cars with the star remained persistently high. With 20,557 deliveries in the past month, unit sales were up 11.3% on the previous year’s figure. Mercedes-Benz has thus delivered 168,462 models (+13.5%) to customers on the U.S. market since the beginning of the year – more than any other premium manufacturer. Record sales were also generated in Canada and Mexico since the beginning of the year. In the past eight months, unit sales were up by 8.9% in Canada and by as much as 25.0% in Mexico.

In China (incl. Hong Kong) Mercedes-Benz recorded a new sales high for August with 14,205 units (+2.8%) sold. The brand also posted a high for the period from January to August, carrying out 127,724 deliveries (+6.2%) to Chinese customers. End of August the new B-Class celebrated its market launch in China.

Mercedes-Benz continued to develop particularly well in Russia and Japan. Both in August and the year to date, growth rates in both countries were considerably over 20%.

In the Middle East region, Mercedes-Benz vehicles also remain very popular. In August, the brand posted a new sales record there with unit sales up 35.5%.
In Germany, Mercedes-Benz has sold 168,192 vehicles since the beginning of the year. Despite this year’s model changeover of the high-selling A-Class and the launch of the facelift for the very popular C-Class in the previous year, the brand’s sales were thus higher than the level in 2011 (+1.6%). In August, the month before the market launch of the new A-Class, 19,176 units were sold (previous year: 19,412 u.).

On the Western European market (without Germany), which is still heavily in decline, Mercedes-Benz held its ground very well in August, delivering 14,174 new vehicles and increasing its sales by almost five percent (+4.8%). Since the start of the year, sales are at the previous year’s level (+0.1%) at 190,775 units. Mercedes-Benz saw a particularly strong development in August again in Switzerland (+24.7%), France (+20.3%) and the UK (+9.4%).

The B-Class continues to enjoy extremely high demand. As in the months before, unit sales in August also beat the previous records for the month. A total of 11,348 customers (+163.5%) opted for a new B-Class. Deliveries since the beginning of the year thus amounted to a new record of 92,440 units (+26.6%). Sales in the C-Class segment have also developed very positively in the year to date, with 270,670 models sold (+11.3%).

The models in the E-Class segment celebrated a sales record last month. Overall, more than 13 million vehicles have already been sold in this segment. This year, over 200,000 units have been delivered to date. In the year to date, the S-Class segment grew by 3.8% (54,404 u.).

Last month, particularly the new SL was in very high demand. Compared with the same period of the previous year, sales of the roadster were more than five times as high (+447.1%). The brand’s SUVs achieved another record month. With 22,499 deliveries in August, the previous year’s record was exceeded by 33.7%. The facelifted GLK (+58.0%) and G-Class (+17.8%) as well as the new M-Class (+43.7%) marked particularly high sales increases. The M-Class was thus the best-selling vehicle in its competitive class last month. With 174,293 SUVs delivered since January (+13.2%), a new sales record was also set for the year to date.

The smart microcar developed positively in August, despite the continuing difficult market environment in Western Europe. With 6,021 units sold a sales increase of 4.2% was recorded. Year to date sales are thus at 69,736 units delivered (+1.0%). Accordingly, smart remains on track to maintain the previous year’s strong sales level. In August the innovative two-seater was again especially popular in the U.S. (+85.9%) and China (incl. Hong Kong) (+22.1%).

And smart had another reason to celebrate last month. Since August, the smart is now also available in Moscow. The Stuttgart-based brand sees great potential in Russia for the compact two-seater with its extremely low need for driving and parking space. Following its launch in Russia, smart is now represented on 46 markets worldwide.

Overview of Mercedes-Benz Cars unit sales

Credits: Daimler AG

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