Mercedes-Benz kicks off fourth quarter with record sales and 15.3% growth

“Our record sales in October have provided us with a strong start to the fourth quarter, and we have further increased our market share,” said Ola Källenius, Member of the Divisional Board Mercedes-Benz Cars responsible for Marketing & Sales. “In October we increased our sales in every key region. Since our goal is to achieve a new record for 2013 overall, we will continue to rigorously pursue our path of growth as we head towards the end of the year.”

In Europe, Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 55,235 vehicles in October (+6.9%), increasing its unit sales in almost every European market. The Stuttgart based premium brand showed particularly strong growth in the UK (+28.2%), Turkey (+63.1%) and Russia (+14.8%). In the German market Mercedes-Benz was able to almost match the previous year’s level with 22,758 units sold (py. 23,270 units). With a market share of 9.5% per October, the brand with the star remains the market leader among premium brands in its home market.

In the United States, Mercedes-Benz handed over 30,069 vehicles to customers (+25.4%) last month. With these record sales the company was once again the leading premium brand. In the growth market of Brazil Mercedes-Benz has recorded increases of over 40% since the start of the year. Daimler AG is investing in a first step around €170 million in a new Mercedes-Benz assembly plant, which will start production of passenger cars for the local market in 2016.

In the Asia/Pacific region the growth of Mercedes-Benz sales was driven primarily by new records in Japan. Since the beginning of the year, the brand has handed over 42,580 vehicles to customers there, about a third more than in the same period of the previous year. On the Indian market Mercedes-Benz has also increased its sales by a third. Also in China (incl. Hong Kong) the positive trend of the previous months continues: In October, Mercedes-Benz has raised the number of units sold in China by 9.1% to 17,348 vehicles. The most recent proof of Mercedes-Benz’ positive development in China is the result of J.D. Power Asia Pacific’s recently released Initial Quality Study 2013, which ranks Mercedes-Benz as the brand with the highest initial quality among 65 international and domestic automakers in China. The locally produced long-wheelbase E-Class and C-Class as well as the imported S-Class come out top in their respective segment.

The new Mercedes-Benz compacts are still selling very strongly: 36,132 customers bought an A-Class, B-Class or CLA-Class model last month, raising the brand’s compact vehicle sales by 72.7%.

Sales of the new E-Class model segment rose strongly in October. A total of 21,996 customers opted for the sedan and estate models in October (+21.5%), while sales of the new coupe and cabrio increased by a third.

There continues to be strong demand for Mercedes-Benz SUVs. Since January more than a quarter of a million SUVs have been delivered, an increase of 16.1% on the same period of the previous year. The GLK alone has already sold more than 100,000 units this year (+18%) and the M-Class, also totalling 100,000 units since the start of the year, is the top-selling vehicle in its segment worldwide.

Last month, 5,240 S-Class sedans were delivered to customers worldwide (+6.1%). Since mid-October the new S-Class has been available in all key markets. In Europe and in the United States it is already topping registration lists in the premium segment. Mercedes-Benz has introduced its flagship model into the top three S-Class markets in less than twelve weeks.

Since the beginning of 2013, customers have taken delivery of 82,449 units of the compact two-seater smart (p.y. 87,961 units). Last month, the smart fortwo was extremely popular in China (+9.7%). car2go had a special cause for celebration in October: It was the fifth anniversary of the successful car-sharing scheme which also achieved two significant milestones: 500,000 customers around the world are using the more than 9,000 blue and white smart fortwos, which had been rented more than a million times until now.