Mercedes posts record half-yearly global sales

Mercedes-Benz has notched its best-ever half-year results globally. Its sales volumes grew by 13.7 percent to 1,144,274 units in the January-June 2017 period.

While the carmaker is yet to officially announce its January-June 2017 sales figures for India, sales rose 8.7 percent to an estimated 7,171 units; it sold 6,597 units in the same period last year. The German carmaker could be headed for a record year as demand for luxury vehicles is set to accelerate following the implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST).

“We have posted the strongest half-year in the history of Mercedes-Benz. Not only has the popularity of our E-class family contributed to this success; demand for our SUVs is also as high as ever in all regions,” said Britta Seeger, member of the board of Management for Mercedes-Benz cars marketing & sales, in a company statement.

In Europe, vehicle sales rose to 4,84,120 units, which is 8.9 percent more than in the same period last year.

The region with the strongest growth in unit sales since the beginning of the year was Asia-Pacific. At 4,38,710 cars sold, year-on-year growth was a record 26.7 percent. Of the units sold, 2,92,679 of them went to customers in China – an increase of 34.5 percent.

Sales by model

More than 2,10,000 units of the C-class sedan and estate were sold in the first six months of the year, making it the bestseller once again. The biggest sales market was China, where double-digit growth and a new sales record were achieved due to the strong ongoing demand for the extended wheelbase C-class.

The first-half of 2017 saw the sale of 3,85,044 SUVs, which is an increase of 13.4 percent over the first-half of 2016, thus setting a global record and also one in Europe, Asia-Pacific and NAFTA. The bestseller among the SUVs was the GLC, followed by the GLA.