Mercedes-Benz records double-digit growth with best-ever September and third quarter

Mercedes-Benz has announced a new September record last month with 223,838 vehicles sold worldwide (+10.4%). From July to September (Q3 CY2019), a total of 590,514 cars were sold, which is the best third quarter in the company's history (+12.2%). Within just three months, Mercedes-Benz has 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 compact cars segment 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 sedans also posted sales increases worldwide in September.

Since the beginning of the year, Mercedes-Benz says it has  maintained its market leadership in the premium segment in markets including Germany, UK, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Denmark, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Canada, Republic of South 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.”

Sales by region and market
In the Europe region, 99,092 Mercedes-Benz vehicles 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 were delivered (+24.7%). From January to September, 228,737 vehicles of the Stuttgart-based company were delivered in the domestic market (+5.0%). Despite a challenging market environment, unit sales rose marginally in the United Kingdom once again in September. Since the beginning of the year, new sales records have been set in France, 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. New sales records were set 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 NAFTA region 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.

Sales by model
More than 72,700 units of the A- and B-Class, CLA Coupe, CLA Shooting Brake and GLA were delivered last month – more compact cars than in any month before (+17.7%). In addition to the new A-Class sedan, the new B-Class and the new CLA Coupe 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. In the first nine months of the year, worldwide unit sales of the compact car segment also reached a new record of more than 489,600 units (+10.6%).

The E-Class Sedan and Estate models posted an 11.8% increase in September with about 33,800 vehicles delivered. The E-Class Saloon set new sales records both in September (+15.2%) and since the beginning of the year (+2.1%). In the Asia-Pacific region and the Chinese and South Korean markets, sales of the E-Class Saloon reached record levels in September and the first nine months of the year.

With more than 5,700 units delivered worldwide last month, the S-Class Sedan achieved a significant increase in deliveries (11.1%). Much of the strong double-digit growth came from the Chinese market, where, due to its ongoing popularity, the S-Class Saloon set a new record for deliveries in September. Sales in the United Sates also increased significantly with a double-digit growth last month.