Monthly sales cross the 200,000-mark for the first time.
10 Oct 2016 | 4198 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Mercedes-Benz has managed to post a hat-trick of sales records for September, in the third quarter and also in the first nine months of the year. Last month, sales reached the all-time high of 211,286 vehicles (+12.1%), passing the mark of 200,000 units in one month for the first time. ...
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Mercedes-Benz has managed to post a hat-trick of sales records for September, in the third quarter and also in the first nine months of the year. Last month, sales reached the all-time high of 211,286 vehicles (+12.1%), passing the mark of 200,000 units in one month for the first time. In the period of July to September, the bestselling quarter so far was achieved with sales of 531,302 units (+11.2%). Since the beginning of the year, sales by Mercedes-Benz have risen at a double-digit rate to a record number of more than 1.5 million vehicles (1,537,921 units, +11.7%).
Last month, the Stuttgart-based automaker was the market leader among the premium manufacturers in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan, USA, Canada and Mexico.
Commenting on the company’s performance, Ola Källenius, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing & Sales said: “In September, we scored a hat-trick – the best month with more than 200,000 units sold, the best quarter and the best first nine months of a year for Mercedes-Benz. We continued our product offensive in September with the E-Class Estate, the long-wheelbase version of the E-Class Saloon, the C-Class Cabrio and the GLC Coupé.”
Sales by region and market
Sales in Europe increased last month by 15% to 98,877 units – a new sales record in September. Growth in unit sales was particularly strong for the E-Class Saloon and the Mercedes-Benz dream cars. In Germany, the domestic market, 27,640 units were sold, which is 17.1% more automobiles with the three-pointed star than in the same month of last year. Mercedes-Benz continued to achieve sustained and double-digit growth in September in Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.
The carmaker increased its sales in Asia-Pacific in September by 15.9% and sold 72,670, more than ever before in a September. Growth in unit sales was particularly strong in Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia, with double-digit rates. In China, strong demand for the vehicles with the three-pointed star in September led to a new high of 46,443 units sold (+20.1%); sales in China from January to September totalled 344,791 units (+29.5%), more than ever before in the first nine months of a year.
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Sales by Mercedes-Benz in the NAFTA region reached a high of 34,488 units in September, an increase of 2.9% compared with the prior-year month. A new high was achieved also in the USA, where 29,500 vehicles with the three-pointed star were handed over to customers (+1.7%). In Mexico, Mercedes-Benz surpassed its previous best-ever September sales achieved in 2015 by almost 50%.
Unit sales by model
Sales of the E-Class Saloon and Estate rose to 27,955 units, which is 20.1% higher than in the prior-year month. Unit sales of SUVs by Mercedes-Benz in September were higher than the previous best figure recorded in the prior-year month. Worldwide, 68,197 customers took delivery of their new SUV (+26.8%). Sales in the first nine months of the year increased to 520,321 units (+42.2%) and were thus already at the level of full-year 2015.
In the year of the dream cars, Mercedes-Benz increased its unit sales of those models by 32.8% in September. More than 15,000 coupés, roadsters and convertibles with the three-pointed star were sold.
smart
Last month, the smart brand celebrated a sales anniversary: Two million of the agile urban microcar have been sold since it was launched in 1998. And the smart continued its popularity in September. A third more of the smart models were sold than in the same month of last year: 13,987 customers took delivery of their new smart fortwo or forfour (+36.5%).
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