Grows sales by 13.3 per cent

By Theodore Opara

MERCEDES-Benz has continued its successful streak of double-digit growth since the beginning of the year. The renowned luxury car maker started the third quarter with a new sales record of 181,791 vehicles sold in July. This now adds up to a total global sale of 1,326,065 vehicles worldwide – a percentage growth of 13.3 per cent compared to 2016.

“With growth in unit sales of eleven percent in July, Mercedes-Benz started the third quarter with a new sales record. Additional demand will be stimulated by the new S-Class Saloon, which we started delivering to our customers in Europe in July.

The Mercedes-Benz flagship has set another milestone along the way to autonomous driving with a new driver-assistance package,” stated Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing and Sales.

Autonomous driving

The countries with the most new car registrations for the month of July included Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Taiwan and Canada. Europe continued to be the biggest sales region for Mercedes-Benz, with a total of 76,153 cars sold in July (+10.4 per cent). In the first seven months of this year, 560,273 units were delivered to customers in Europe (+9.1 per cent).

More than a third of the cars sold in Europe in July went to customers in Germany (26,679 units, +8.7 per cent). Other major European sales markets also significantly surpassed their unit sales of July last year: France (+10.1 per cent), Italy (+8.0 per cent), Spain (+18.0 per cent), Belgium (+17.7 per cent) and Switzerland (+11.8 per cent).

In the Asia-Pacific region, a new sales high was set for the month of July with 70,266 Mercedes-Benz automobiles sold (+22.7 per cent). In the first seven months of the year, 508,976 vehicles with the three-pointed star were delivered to customers (+26.1 per cent). In addition to China, where 48,588 units were sold in July (+31.8 per cent), the region’s success was supported also by new records in the markets South Korea (+41.0 per cent) and India (+20.9 per cent).

In the NAFTA region, more vehicles with the star were sold than ever before in the first seven months of a year (224,106 units, +0.6 per cent). A total of 187,869 Mercedes-Benz cars were delivered to customers in the USA since the beginning of the year. New unit-sales records were set for the first seven months in Canada (+11.8 per cent) and Mexico (+28.0 per cent).

The model with the highest growth in sales was the E-Class Saloon and Estate, its 64.6 per cent increase made a major contribution to the success of Mercedes-Benz in July. Total sales of those two models added up to 28.693 units worldwide, more than ever before in a July. The biggest sales market for the E-Class is China, where the long-wheelbase version of the E-Class Saloon is especially popular. Unit sales of Mercedes-Benz SUVs increased last month by 14.6 per cent to a new high of 64,521 units. The GLA and GLC were particularly successful with new sales records. Since the beginning of the year, approximately 450,000 SUVs with the star have been delivered to customers all over the world (+13.6 per cent).

Demand was very strong in July also for the coupés, convertibles and roadsters, which are grouped together at Mercedes-Benz under the heading of dream cars. They achieved growth of 18.2 per cent to sales of more than 14,000 units. In the first seven months of the year, over 100,000 dream cars were sold (+29.5 per cent). The new E-Class Coupé is extremely popular in the first months following its market launch; more units of this model were handed over to customers than ever before in a July.

“This is yet another significant milestone by Mercedes-Benz. For all of us at Weststar, we are proud to a part of this success story. As Authorized General Distributors of Mercedes-Benz in Nigeria, we aim to remain relentless in our efforts to deliver the best sales and aftersales services at our premises and all our authorized dealerships nationwide.” – Mirko Plath, MD/CEO, Weststar Associates Limited.