OREANDA-NEWS. In the first half of 2013, Mercedes-Benz posted yet another record with sales of 694,433 vehicles (+6.4%). With 131,609 units sold, sales in June also reached record level (+8.3%), not least through strong growth in China (+16.0%). The growth in the first six months of the year was driven primarily by the stable gains in many European markets and the USA. Mercedes-Benz posted a strong first half in the BRIC states as well. In addition, the brand with the star maintained market leadership in Germany, the USA and Japan and managed to gain further market shares in nearly all Western European markets.

“The first half of 2013 went very well for Mercedes-Benz. We continued to grow in many markets and were able to post a new record“, said Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars. “We also want to continue to grow in the second half. In particular, the new E-Class, S-Class and our new compact cars will provide perceptible momentum as they become available in increasingly more markets in the coming months.“

Mercedes-Benz performed very well in the volatile market environment of Europe with sales of 327,988 vehicles in the first half of the year (+4.2%). The brand won market shares in many markets in June as well. Since the beginning of the year the company posted particularly strong sales growth in UK (+15.0%), Belgium (+19.6%), Russia (+19.9%) and Turkey (+75.1%). In Germany, Mercedes-Benz delivered 124,324 vehicles to customers (-3.3%) in the first half, thus developing better than the significantly declining overall market (-8.1%). With a market share of nearly 10% in June, Mercedes-Benz once again defended its position as the most registered premium brand in Germany.

The last six months developed particularly satisfactorily in the USA where, with sales of 141,950 units, Mercedes-Benz was more successful than ever before in its largest sales market (+10.4%). The brand also posted strong increases in Latin America, and grew sales in Brazil by 51.7% and in Argentina by 95.1%.

In the Asia/Pacific region, Mercedes-Benz posted stable growth in the first half (+6.7%), due in particular to sales in Japan (+26.5%) and India (+16.4%). The brand’s sales are also developing very strongly in China (incl. Hong Kong), where Mercedes-Benz posted a double-digit growth in June (+16.0%) and achieved sales of 19,549 vehicles. Since the beginning of the year 98,914 cars have been delivered to customers. Just a few weeks ago, Daimler AG again underlined the importance of the Chinese market and has been strengthening it with a proprietary functional unit for China at central sales.

The new compacts of Mercedes-Benz were in special demand in the first half of 2013 with total deliveries of 173,362 vehicles of the A-Class, B-Class and the CLA coupe (+58.0%).

The new E-Class family is also meeting with enthusiastic response from customers. In June, already 21,910 sedans and estates were delivered to customers (+5.0%). In the beginning of June, the coupe and cabrio also promptly opened the summer season in the European markets. The two variants are among the ‘dream cars’ with the star, a general term used by the brand for its coupe, cabrio and roadster models series. Overall, since the beginning of the year, already 85,000 dream cars were handed over to customers, which corresponds to a market share of around 50% compared to the core competitors.

Mercedes-Benz will celebrate the dealer premiere of its new flagship in Germany in a few weeks: On July 20th the new S-Class will be brought into the showrooms for the first time. Even before market launch, 20,000 orders have already been received. Just recently, the luxury sedan of Mercedes-Benz won two first places in the Automotive Brand Contest 2013, and is thus distinguished as “Best of the Best“ in the categories of Exterior Design and Interior Design.

Sales for the SUVs from the brand with the star again grew significantly in the first half of 2013 to 156,055 units (+21.4%). The GL, which has sold more than 250,000 times since its market launch in 2006, posted a sales record with 35.1% growth in the last six months. The M-Class is the best-selling vehicle of its class with nearly 60,000 customer deliveries since the beginning of the year. The GLK is also becoming increasingly popular with customers (+32.2% since the beginning of the year). Just recently, the compact SUV was ranked first in its class in the J. D. Power IQS Study (Initial Quality Study), in which the market research company measures the delivery quality of new vehicles after a 90-day holding period.

The compact two-seater smart fortwo also won first place in the prestigious J. D. Power Quality Study in the “City Car“ category. The smart fortwo was delivered to customers 51,867 times since the beginning of the year (-6.7%).