Mercedes-Benz February Global Car Sales Report
Nedzad March 5, 2008
German car maker Daimler AG said Tuesday that unit sales at it’s Mercedes-Benz Cars division totaled 96,600 vehicles in February 2008, an increase of 18% from the figure recorded for the same month last year, 82,000 units, setting a new benchmark.
In addition, deliveries of Mercedes-Benz, AMG, smart, and Maybach brand vehicles over the first two months of the year rose 17% to the record level of 187,000 units, compared to 159,700 in the first two months of 2007.
The Mercedes-Benz brand also set a record in February by posting a sales increase of 13% to 87,800 units worldwide compared to 78,000 in February 2007.
A total of 170,100 customers worldwide opted for a vehicle of the brand with the star over the first two months of the year, up from 151,500 in the first two months of 2007, an increase of 12% from the same period last year, and also the best performance ever for that calendar period.
The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class enjoyed continued success in February, posting very high sales growth in all triad markets. A total of 29,000 C-Class sedans and station wagons were sold, more than double the 13,700 in February 2007.
The A-Class and B-Class also continued their positive performance last month, with sales in this segment increasing by 8% to the record level of 21,600 unit, up from 20,100 in February 2007. This development was mainly a result of record deliveries of B-Class vehicles in Western Europe.
The strong sales growth achieved with the C-Class sedan played a major role in enabling Mercedes-Benz to increase its sales in the U.S. in February by a further 7% to the record figure of 18,600 units, compared with 17,300 in the previous year.
Mercedes-Benz sales in Germany rose 22% to 23,100 passenger vehicles, compared with 18,900 a year earlier.
Unit sales for Mercedes-Benz in Western Europe excluding Germany were up 12% to 26,900 vehicles, which was also a new record.
The response to the new smart fortwo in existing markets has been outstanding, and further growth of the smart brand has also been helped by the launch of the two-seater in the U.S.
Deliveries of the smart fortwo worldwide more than doubled in February to 8,800 units, compared with 3,400 in February 2007. Since the model was introduced in mid January, a total of 1,800 customers in the U.S. have taken delivery of the smart fortwo from one of the about 70 dealerships.
From: marketwatch.com
