OREANDA-NEWS. Since the beginning of the year, Mercedes-Benz has handed over 783,520 vehicles to customers (+12.8%) and can thus count on the best unit sales result in any half year in the company's history to date. In the month of June the company delivered 142,136 passenger cars (+8.0%).

"The first half of the year was extremely successful for us", said Ola Kallenius, Member of the Divisional Board Mercedes-Benz Cars responsible for Marketing & Sales. "With the unit sales of our vehicles, we are on track to make 2014 into yet another record year."

In the first six months of the year, Mercedes-Benz increased its sales on the European market to 352,198 vehicles (+7.4%) and gained additional market shares in almost all markets. Sales in the UK (+17.8%) and Switzerland (+7.7%) also showed very strong growth. In the strongly competitive home market of Germany, Mercedes-Benz continues to be the most registered premium brand with 125,215 vehicles sold (+0.7%).

In its biggest sales market, the USA, the company has delivered 151,624 vehicles since the beginning of the year. The new C-Class, which is the volume model in the North American market, will be launched here in September. Sales of the brand are also developing very well in South Africa: unit sales have risen by 10.3% to 11,388 units since the beginning of the year, and the brand posted an increase of 30.1% in June.

In China (incl. Hong Kong), the Stuttgart-based manufacturer continued on its strong course and has pushed sales up to 135,972 units since the beginning of the year (+37.5%). The new C-Class sedan will come on the Chinese market in September. In Japan, Mercedes-Benz sold 27,306 vehicles (+13.0%) and thus continues to be the most registered premium brand.

In the first half of the year, 215,205 customers opted for an A-, B-, CLA- or GLA-Class vehicle (+24.1%). At the end of the year, Mercedes-Benz will be presenting the fifth member of its compact car family: the CLA Shooting Brake, which will be produced in the Hungarian Mercedes-Benz plant in Kecskemet and will come onto the market in the first half of 2015.

The models of the E-Class family proved to be growth drivers in the last six months: the sedan and the estate alone sold 130,464 units (+27.4%). The E-Class coupe and convertible were also very popular with customers: Here, Mercedes-Benz posted growth of 25% since the beginning of the year. Both models are segment leaders in their classes.

Since the beginning of the year, 49,262 units of the S-Class have been handed over to customers - twice as many as in the same period of the previous year.

Just about a year after the production start of the new S-Class, the 100,000th S-Class sedan model series 222 recently rolled off the production line in the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen. The flagship of the brand with the star is leading worldwide in the luxury class and is considered the benchmark of automotive progress with its numerous innovations. In addition to the S-Class with its short and long wheelbase and the S-Class coupe, Mercedes-Benz will be supplementing its luxury segment with three more models in the coming years. The SUVs with the star are also continuing their strong growth with customer deliveries of 166,730 vehicles in the last six months (+6.8%).

The smart for two was sold 46,816 times since the beginning of the year (-9.7%). The official world premiere of the new generation of the smart will take place on July 16 in Berlin.