Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars, said, “Since the beginning of the year we have recorded higher sales in every month compared to the results in the same period of last year. The growth was driven above all by the new generation of the C-Class. Also in the fourth quarter we want to continue the trend of the recent months and grow further. We expect strong momentum particularly from the market launches of the new B-Class and M-Class in November. Even though these vehicles have not yet arrived at the dealerships, the customer response has been outstanding. So we are still on track to sell more vehicles in the full year than ever before.” From January through October the Mercedes-Benz Cars division sold 1,108,538 (+6.9%) Mercedes-Benz and smart fortwo vehicles, also setting a new record.
In October, Mercedes-Benz once again posted record sales in many markets. In China (incl. Hong Kong) 16,539 vehicles (+22.9%) were delivered to customers. With a total of 152,045 units delivered (+31.6%) the overall sales from January to October 2011 have already exceeded the level recorded there in all of 2010. Last month Mercedes-Benz also posted record sales in South Korea (+23.0%), Russia (+34.6%) and Sweden (+2.2%). Sales in these countries have also reached a record-breaking level for the year to date. Mercedes-Benz also set new sales records in the first ten months of 2011 in Taiwan (+38.5%), India (+24.4%), Mexico (+18.2%), Denmark (+13.1%) and Turkey (+11.5%). High growth rates in October were also recorded for example in the UK (+14.9%) and Japan (+18.8%).
The brand with the star performed particularly well in the U.S. in October. The recently introduced models of the new generation of the C-Class (+87.9%) and the new M-Class (+44.8%) were especially popular. With sales growth of 23.4%, a total of 22,637 units were delivered last month, making Mercedes-Benz the best-selling premium automotive brand in the United States in October. Since the beginning of the year Mercedes-Benz has sold 192,695 vehicles there (+8.2%). In Canada, Mercedes-Benz set a new sales record in October - as in September - boosting sales by 18.0% to 2,614 vehicles.
In its home market, Mercedes-Benz once again outperformed its competitors in October. One month before the launch of the new versions of the in Germany popular B-Class and M-Class, 22,603 units were delivered to customers (January - October in 2010: 26,956; -16.1%). During the year to date sales totaled 212,640 units (January – October 2010: 215,997; -1.6%). In the ranking by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), the CLS as well as the E-Class coupe, followed by the SLK, took the top positions in their respective classes in October. In Western Europe (excluding Germany), sales from January through October were at the very high level reached during the same period of last year. Mercedes-Benz delivered 243,913 (January - October 2010: 244,572; -0.3%) passenger vehicles to customers.
Since the beginning of this year the C-Class sedan and the S-Class have been the top-selling vehicles in their segment. From January to October a total of 56,283 S-Class have been delivered to customers (+5.0%). During the same period, sales of the C-Class sedan rose 6.2% to 219,377 units. The C-Class estate is also continuing to generate very positive results, with record-breaking sales in October and in the period since January of this year. Last month sales of the new SLK developed successfully, again. Sales of the sporty roadster increased by 169.3% compared to the same month last year. Higher growth rates were only recorded for the new CLS. In October more than four times (+331.5%) as many customers chose the four-door coupe as in the same month in 2010. With 26,534 units (+0.4%) sold in the previous month and 279,554 (+4.3%) vehicles delivered since January, sales in the E-Class segment reached a record level. The SUVs from Mercedes-Benz are also setting one record after the other. From January through October a total of 195,966 units were delivered to customers. The GLK has also been a record-setter in October and during the business year so far, with deliveries up by more than one fourth (+28.1%) since January. Also the M-Class developed very strong in October. Despite the model changeover sales rose once again by 22.2%.
Deliveries of the smart fortwo developed positively in October. With 8,305 units (+5.3%) sold, sales increased on the strong performance in the same month last year. A total of 85,872 smart fortwo vehicles were delivered from January through October (+3.7%). A new sales record in October and since the beginning of the year was set in China. Since January 9.484 (+161.3%) smart fortwo were delivered. Demand for the innovative two-seater in October was also high in Spain (+43.6%), Italy (+23.2%), Belgium (+16.4%) and France (+13.7%). In Germany, 24,699 smart fortwo vehicles were sold to customers since the start of 2011, an increase of 7.0% that keeps the car in its leading position in its competitive class. For the full-year 2011 the smart fortwo will significantly surpass its original sales target of more than 90,000 units and is now looking to sell approximately 100,000 vehicles.
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