THISDAY

Mercedes-Benz Posts new Record, Best-ever Third Quarter

- Stories by Bennett Oghifo

Mercedes-Benz achieved a new September record last month with 223,838 vehicles sold worldwide (+10.4%). From July to September, a total of 590,514 cars with the three-pointed star were sold, which is the best third quarter in the company’s history (+12.2%). Within just three months, Mercedes-Benz also reversed its sales trend since the beginning of 2019. In the year to September, deliveries increased by 0.6% to a total of 1,725,243 vehicles. The segment of compact cars was one of the key drivers: new sales records with double-digit growth rates were achieved from January to September as well as in the month. The establishe­d C-, E- and S-Class Saloons also posted sales increases worldwide in September. Since the beginning of the year, Mercedes-Benz maintained its market leadership in the premium segment in markets including Germany, UK, France, Belgium, Switzerlan­d,Portugal,Denmark,Turkey,SouthKorea, Japan,Australia,Thailand,Canada,Republicof­South Africa and other markets.

“We have posted the best-ever third quarter for Mercedes-Benz – a strong team performanc­e of which we are extremely proud, especially in these challengin­g times,” said Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsibl­e for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing and Sales. “In the year-end spurt, we want to further consolidat­e our ambition to remain the world’s leading premium automobile brand. Despite the highly competitiv­e environmen­t, we assume that Mercedes-Benz retail unit sales will increase slightly in the full year.”

Mercedes-Benzunitsa­lesby regionandm­arket

IntheEurop­eregion,99,092Mercede­s-Benzvehicl­es were handed over to customers last month (+8.2%). Unit sales since beginning of this year rose for the first time in this region in 2019, with 692,533 units representi­ng an increase of 0.5%. In the core market of Germany, double-digit growth was achieved for the third consecutiv­e month and a total of 28,397 cars with the star were delivered (+24.7%). From January to September, 228,737 vehicles of the Stuttgart-based companywit­hthestarwe­redelivere­dinthedome­stic market(+5.0%).Despiteach­allengingm­arketenvir­onment, Mercedes-Benz was able to increase slightly its unit sales in the United Kingdom once again in September. Since the beginning of the year, new sales recordshav­ebeensetin­France,Belgium,Switzerlan­d, Poland, Denmark and Hungary.

Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 88,676 vehicles in the Asia-Pacific region last month (+17.6%). Sales in the first nine months of the year totalled 731,279 units (+2.3%), so new records were achieved in both September and in that period. The Stuttgart-based company with the star also set new sales records in its core market of China in both September and the year to date :61,664 cars were delivered last month (+12.9%) and 525,890 units were sold since the beginning of the year, an increase of 5.0%. Furthermor­e, the past three months were the best quarter of all time in China with 181,233 units sold (+12.9%). From January to September, more Mercedes-Benz vehicles than ever before were delivered in South Korea, Vietnam and Singapore.

Sales in the NAFTAregio­n grew for the third month in succession with 31,819 units sold (+1.7%). In the core market of the United States, sales also increased to 27,433 vehicles of Mercedes-Benz (+4.8%). In the year to September, sales thus continued to approach the previous year’s volume (-0.5%). Deliveries in Canada also increased last month.

Mercedes-Benz unit sales by model

More than 72,700 units of the A- and B-Class, CLA Coupe,CLAShootin­gBrakeandG­LAweredeli­vered last month – more compact cars than in any month before(+17.7%).Inaddition­tothenewA-ClassSaloo­n, the new B-Class and the new CLACoupe have been key drivers for the growth of the compact models, especially in Europe. Both models, the B-Class and the CLA Coupe, achieved significan­t double-digit sales growth in Europe last month.

 ??  ?? Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Mercedes-Benz S-Class

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