Mercedes-Benz sells 125,865 units in January, up 13.6 percent

Mercedes-Benz has reported record global sales of 125,865 vehicles in January 2015, 13.6 percent more than those sold in January 2014. In January, smart also posted a sales growth of 29.9 percent.

"We have started the ‘Year of the SUVs' at Mercedes-Benz with a sales increase of 37 percent in this segment," said Ola Källenius, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing & Sales. "In 2015 we will continue last year’s momentum with new products across all segments: in the high-end with the Mercedes-Maybach S 600 and in the microcar-segment with the new smart fortwo and smart forfour, which are highly popular among our customers. January unit sales of the new smart models increased by nearly 30% in comparison to the previous year’s month."

The European market continues to develop positively for Mercedes-Benz with a 14.5 percent sales increase to 47,693 vehicles. Particularly high growth rates were achieved in the UK (+20.4%), Italy (+16.3%), Spain (+47.4%) and France (+22.1%). In the competitive German market, 11.4 percent more vehicles were sold than in the same month of the previous year (15,503 units), and additional market shares were gained.

In the NAFTA region, a total of 27,621 models were sold (+9.6%), the highest ever in January. There were record sales of 24,619 vehicles in the USA (+8.9%) and also in Canada with a sales increase of 8.2 percent.

The Asia-Pacific region achieved a sales record of 46,269 vehicles (+16.4%), of which 28,080 Mercedes-Benz models were delivered to customers in China (+14.5%). A sales record was posted not only in China but also in Japan, where Mercedes-Benz holds the market leadership among the premium manufacturers.

In contrast to the general market forecast, Mercedes-Benz unit sales in Russia were up by 16.2 percent in January. However, it remains to be seen how the difficult economic situation will affect sales in Russia during the rest of the year.

Mercedes-Benz compact cars continue to enjoy great popularity, which enabled a 24 sales increase in January. A total of 33,719 customers received their new A-, B-, CLA- and GLA-Class vehicles in January. The CLA Shooting Brake, which is the fifth member of the compact car family, will be launched in March.

The C-class Sedan and Estate were particularly successful in January. Sales of the two models are over 50 percent higher than in the same month of the previous year, the company statement says. Overall, some 31,959 C-Class Sedans and Estates were handed over to customers last month.

Sales of the S-Class rose by 9.2 percent to a new record high of 8,111 units. And the SUV boom has led to a 37 percent sales growth in this segment. The GLK- as well as the GL- and G-Class posted new sales records in January, says Mercedes-Benz.

Overview of sales by Mercedes-Benz Cars