Showing posts with label march. Show all posts

Record March Sales Of 23,134 Bring Mercedes-Benz USA To Highest First Quarter Ever At 61,513

By Adji | Published Tuesday, 3 April 2012

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today reported a record March with sales of 23,134 for its Mercedes-Benz models, a 7.7 % improvement over March 2011 leading to the highest first quarter volume on record with sales of 61,513, up 15.3%. Combined sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles, smart and Sprinter for the month totaled 25,508, up 13.1%, and for the year-to-date 66,906, up 19.5 %.

“With the combination of strong sales performance in our volume model lines and a whole new generation of Mercedes-Benz products in the pipeline, we are ideally positioned to take advantage of the strengthening market and take the brand to new places,” said Steve Cannon, president and CEO of MBUSA.

Sales for the month of March were led by the C-, E-, and M-Class model lines. The sporty C-Class – the gateway to the Mercedes-Benz brand on the car side for younger and first-time Mercedes-Benz buyers – took the lead with sales of 6,342 and the 9th generation E-Class followed with sales of 5,570. MBUSA’s top-selling SUV, the M-Class, rounded out the top three with sales of 4,070 up 45.8% compared to March 2011. Other strong performers were the company’s popular new CLS four-door coupe which saw 242.9% growth and the SLK roadster which increased 179.3% over March 2011.

The SLS AMG supercar retailed 123 for the month, up 20.6%.

On a year-to-date basis, top performers again were the C-Class with 18,107 (up 19.2%) the E-Class with 13,873 and the M-Class with 11,480 (up 59.4%).

Amidst rising gas prices, diesel sales increased to 1,601, up 55.6% over the same period last year (1,029) and up 65.4% for the year. On the other end of the spectrum, total AMG sales were 702, up 77.3% versus March 2011 (396) and up 62.2% for the year.

The company’s smart brand continued five consecutive months of sales increases with March sales of 999 vehicles, a 135% jump for the month (compared to the 425 vehicles sold in March 2011). The March volume is the highest on record for smart since MBUSA assumed responsibility in July 2011 and brings the year-to-date volume to 2,264, up 79 percent.

On the van side, sales of Sprinter Vans also saw strong momentum in March with sales of 1,375 – up 29.5% over last year and up 18.1% on a year-to-date basis.

Separately, through the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned (MBCPO) program, MBUSA sold 6,994 vehicles in March; a -3.3% decrease when compared to March 2011 (sales of 7,236 vehicles). On a year-to-date basis, MBCPO sold 19,924 vehicles, an increase of 2.0% over the comparable period (with sales of 19,538).

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Posted in 2012, march, mbnews, mbusa, mercedes-benz, sales, USA | Leave a comment

Mercedes-Benz Records Strongest Monthly Sales in the Company’s History in March

By Adji

With its best monthly sales in the company’s history and the third record month in 2012, Mercedes-Benz has recorded the strongest first-quarter result ever. In March, sales rose by 11.0% to 131,334 units. Thus, since the start of the year, a total of 313,902 vehicles were delivered to customers, an increase of 11.9%. Moreover, the Stuttgart based car manufacturer managed to gain market shares in numerous markets.

In its Mercedes-Benz Cars division, the company sold as many vehicles as never before in a month and also set a new sales record in the first quarter. A total of 340,877 Mercedes-Benz, smart, and Maybach vehicles (+11.6%) were delivered, including 142,278 units (+9.8%) sold in March alone.

Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Mercedes‑Benz Cars: “Following up on our record sales last year, we are also off to a highly successful start in 2012. To date we have recorded a new sales record in every month of this year and with 313,902 Mercedes-Benz passenger cars sold, we have set a new high for the first quarter. March was even the strongest sales month of the company’s history. Besides our excellent start to the year it is especially the great customer response on the new models which makes me very confident that we will achieve our goal to post a new sales record in 2012. With the start of production of the new B-Class in Kecskemét last week, we will have even more vehicles available to better meet the high demand.”

The first quarter saw strong sales among others in the SUV segment. Dr. Schmidt continued: “Driven by the new M-Class, SUV sales developed excellently in the first quarter as they already did in full-year 2011. Tomorrow for the first time we will present the completely new GL and the new generation of the GLK at New York International Auto Show. With our SUV offensive we will extend sales further in this segment.” Besides the GLK and GL also the SL 65 AMG has its world premiere at the auto show in New York.

In the whole NAFTA region deliveries have been very satisfying in the first quarter (70,259 units, +15.5%). In the first three months of the year, Mercedes-Benz set a new sales record in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Particularly noteworthy was the dynamic development in the U.S., where sales rose by 15.3% (61,513 units). Also in the month of March, the company achieved another sales record in the U.S.: 23,134 vehicles were delivered to customers (+7.7%).

The development of the Mercedes-Benz brand also had a successful first quarter in China (incl. Hong Kong). 51,328 customers (+19.5%) purchased a new Mercedes-Benz vehicle from January to March, setting a new sales record for this period. Record sales were also registered there in March (17,660 units, +16.1%).

In Russia and India, Mercedes-Benz also recorded its highest-ever sales for the first quarter and for the month of March. Since the beginning of the year, sales have climbed by 32.7% in Russia, and 6.9% in India. Sales development of Mercedes-Benz has been especially successful in Japan, where first-quarter sales grew by 44.0% compared to the same period last year.

In the first three months of 2012, Mercedes-Benz has enjoyed outstanding sales in Germany, with 56,552 units sold since the beginning of the year, an increase of 14.6%. Also in March, Mercedes-Benz successfully sustained its position on its homemarket with a growth rate of 10.5%, handing over a total of 25,932 vehicles. Thus, Mercedes-Benz is again the top-selling premium brand in the month of March as well as in the first quarter. Sales in the rest of the region of Western Europe also developed strongly in March and in the first quarter. From January to March the brand with the star increased its sales on the declining total market by 6.7% (78,135 units). During this period, demand for Mercedes-Benz was especially high in Switzerland (+37.3%), France (+29.0%), and Great Britain (+9.6%). In Great Britain as well as in Switzerland Mercedes-Benz posted new sales records in the first quarter.

Sales of Mercedes-Benz models have developed very dynamically since the start of the year, above all the models of the C-Class segment. Despite new competitors, sales rose by 27.0% to 99,660 units. The S-Class sedan also continues to enjoy strong demand. Since January, sales of the brand’s flagship rose by over a quarter (+27.5%, 21,507 units) compared to the previous year. The new B-Class received again excellent customer response, with more than 35,000 units sold since it was launched to the market in November. In the year of the introduction of its successor, the A-Class increased its sales by 17.0% (20,772 units) in the first quarter. The E-Class sedan and estate also continue to be popular, with a total of 57,980 units (+3.4%) delivered to customers. Mercedes-Benz SUVs were in continued demand with sales of 59,116 vehicles, which set yet another record, topping last year’s high for the same period. The greatest contributors to this success were the M-Class (+19.0%), the G-Class (+39.4%), posting a new sales record, and the GL-Class, whose sales put on by 9.9% shortly before the introduction of its successor.

The smart fortwo also joined in the success of the Mercedes-Benz models in the first quarter. Sales totaled 26,975 units, topping the previous year’s sales by 8.0%. Especially in China (incl. Hong Kong) demand for the innovative two-seater continues to be persistently high. The number of vehicles delivered since January has doubled (4,795 units, +105.1%), setting a new sales record. First-quarter sales of the smart fortwo were equally dynamic in the U.S. (+78.7%).

Overview of Sales by Mercedes-Benz Cars

Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Posted in 2012, march, mbnews, mercedes-benz cars, sales | Leave a comment

Barcelona F1 Test 2012 (II): DAY 1 Report (MBAMGF1)

By Adji | Published Thursday, 1 March 2012

Nico Rosberg began the final pre-season test for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS today at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

- Nico completed 128 laps, equivalent to 596 km, over the course of a very productive first day of running
- The team focused on set-up evaluations with the F1 W03 this morning, with Nico covering 56 laps over 10 runs
- Nico’s afternoon programme saw longer runs with further set-up work aimed at optimising race performance

Michael Schumacher will take over the car tomorrow, with Nico driving on Saturday, and Michael concluding the test on Sunday.

Nico Rosberg
“I´m very happy with the first day of our test programme today. We were able to complete a lot of laps and tried a few different things which worked out well. Some of the evaluations were really interesting which makes the day good fun for me, and it’s nice to find out what the car can do. We had no reliability problems which is good as it’s important to get mileage on the car. We are making progress, but we don´t know really where we are compared to the others. It will be interesting to find out at the first race.”

TIMES