China sales lift Mercedes to new monthly high
Daimler AG said Chinese sales of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars rose 12.7 percent year-on-year in September to 15,272 units.
In the first nine months of the year, Mercedes-Benz sales jumped 32.8 percent, as the German carmaker chased rivals BMW AG and Audi AG in China's luxury segment.
All three brands are offering significant discounts to maintain market share. (See accompanying article in this newsletter.)
According to Daimler, sales of the Smart fortwo two-seater have been strong since the brand introduced a new Chinese ad campaign featuring NBA star Kobe Bryant. In the first nine months, fortwo sales in China tripled to 8,445 units.
"We will continue to grow in the fourth quarter as well, so we are on track to make 2011 the most successful year in our company's history," Mercedes sales chief Joachim Schmidt said in a statement on Wednesday.
Globally, Mercedes-Benz cars sales rose 0.7 percent in September to 129,476 vehicles.