Mercedes-Benz posts best-ever half-year, sells over 1.1m cars (+13.7%)

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is on a roll. In the first six months of 2017, the company has notched its best-ever half-year results. While it sold 209,309 cars in June (+11.1%), January-June 2017 sales totaled 1,144,274 units (+13.7%). In addition, the second quarter was the best-ever quarter with 583,649 vehicles delivered worldwide (+11.6%).

Mercedes-Benz was the strongest premium brand in the domestic market of Germany, as well as in Italy, France, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, the USA, Canada and Brazil in June.

“We have posted the strongest half-year in the history of Mercedes-Benz with sales of significantly more than a million cars,” said Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing & Sales. “Not only the popularity of our E-Class family contributed to this success; demand for our SUVs is also as high as ever in all regions.”

Sales by region and market; 7,171 units sold in India 
In Europe, sales rose to 484,120 vehicles, 8.9% more than in the prior-year period. Of that, 151,790 vehicles were sold in Germany (+6.3%) and new records were set for the first half of a year in the high-volume markets of Great Britain, France, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland.

The region with the strongest growth in unit sales since the beginning of the year was Asia-Pacific. At 438,710 cars sold, YoY growth was 26.7%, more than ever before in a half-year. 292,679 of those automobiles went to customers in China – an increase of 34.5%. This is significantly higher than the previous record number of cars sold in China in the prior-year period and to a large extent reflects the strong sales of locally produced vehicles. Mercedes-Benz achieved further first-half sales records in the markets South Korea (+47.3%), Australia (+8.5%), Taiwan (+10.9%) and India (+8.7%).

While Mercedes-Benz India is yet to officially announce its H1 2017 figures, it is estimated that the carmaker has sold a total of 7,171 units and is headed for a record year. In 2016, the carmaker – the leader in the luxury car market in India – had sold 13,231 units. Given the H1 result and the recent GST-driven price reductions on its model range, expect Mercedes-Benz India, which launched the new GLA yesterday in Mumbai, to achieve a rich harvest of sales this year.     

Mercedes-Benz posted the strongest first half-year in unit sales in its history also in the NAFTA region: 193,399 vehicles were sold in the USA, Canada and Mexico, which is 2.1% more than in the prior-year period. June sales of 34,894 units in that region were also at a new record level (+5.0%). Of that number, 28,994 automobiles were delivered to customers in the USA (+1.8%), more than ever before in a June.

Sales by model
More than 210,000 units of the C-Class saloon and estate were sold in the first six months of the year, making the C-Class the bestseller once again. The biggest sales market was China, where double-digit growth and a new sales record were achieved due to ongoing strong demand for the long version of the C-Class saloon. Sales of these two E-Class models increased to 181,940 units (+68.4%).

The GLC has been the best-selling SUV globally for Mercedes-Benz. 

In H1 2017, 385,044 SUVs were also sold, an increase of 13.4% over H1 2016, setting a global record and also in Europe, Asia-Pacific and NAFTA. The bestseller among the SUVs was the GLC, followed by the GLA.