Hot! Mercedes breaks record for single-month sales


far2000

AMG Aficionado
FRANKFURT -- Mercedes set a new company record for sales in a single month as March volume rose 13 percent to 158,523 vehicles. Demand for the E class and Mercedes' growing lineup of compacts is driving the growth.

First-quarter deliveries also reached a new high of 374,276 cars and SUVs, which is a 15 percent rise on the same period last year, the company said today in a statement.

Sales have been driven by demand for the E-class sedan, coupe and convertible and the carmaker's compact models, the company said. In mid-March, Mercedes' GLA crossover joined the CLA and B- and A-class models in the automaker's compact lineup, helping to lift its sales in the segment by 27 percent last month.

"We are continuing the success story of the record year 2013 with additional new products and have posted the best-ever first-quarter sales in the company's history,” Ola Kaellenius, Mercedes sales chief, said in the statement.

Mercedes made gains in all its major markets last month, with deliveries in China rising 34 percent to 24,937 and sales in Mercedes’ No. 1 market, the United States, rising 11 percent to 27,401. In Europe, Mercedes' gains reflected an overall rebound in the market as brand sales rose 8 percent to 76,587, led by a gain of 1 percent in Germany, where sales rose to 25,544.

Sales of Daimler's Smart brand dropped 9 percent last month to 9,555. In total, Mercedes-Benz Cars, which includes Smart, sold 168,078 vehicles last month, a rise of 12 percent. Quarterly sales rose 14 percent to 397,708.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, who has a goal for Mercedes to pass Audi and BMW and become the world's biggest maker of luxury cars by 2020, is rolling out 30 new vehicles by the end of the decade, a dozen of which will have no predecessor.
 
I'm not surprised. I was at local MB dealer earlier this week & they were stuffed with new S-Class to keep up with demand & the CLA was sold out.
 
Is this number with or without Vito/V-Class?

The 2014 MB global sales figures include V-class sales as well. The same has been done that in German sales / car registration reports (by KBA) for years (figures included Sprinter, Vito & Viano (the passenger versions) sales figures).

So, yes ... sales of passenger vans are now (from 2014 on) included in MB monthly sales reports. And they do sale in thousands per month!

IMHO that's a bit tricky ... Since such vehicles are actually commercial vehicles, bought most frequently by fleet buyers (for taxi & shuttle purpose), and not for individual / private transport purposes.

But I guess Daimler now counts revamped V-class as "luxury passenger vehicle" for some weird reason - despite the vehicle is actually a commercial vehicle, similar to MB buses.

Btw, vans are normally a part of MB Vans Division, not MB Passenger Cars Division. They were until 2014, obviously. At least the V.

Unfortunately there will be no by-model monthly globals sales charts available.
 
Suspect the V-Class may be included, but the Vito for commercial customers is not. :)


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The new V-Class focuses on three customer groups, in particular: families with two or more children, people who are very active in their leisure time and have lots of sports and outdoor equipment, and operators of luxury VIP or hotel shuttle buses. Daimler AG invested extensively in the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vitoria, Spain, to prepare the facility for the production of the new vehicle. The investment of around €190 million primarily covered the modernization and reorganization of the plant’s body shop, paint shop, and assembly units. The site’s logistics were also optimized.

The new Mercedes-Benz Vito model will also roll off the production line in Vitoria this year. This vehicle will also fully meet the needs of its commercial customers.
http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-7153-1-1686322-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html
 
Yeah whats wrong with having the V in there, it is a damn passenger bus.. .

The vito on the other hand is a commercial vehicle..
 
So, why not real buses. It is a damn passenger bus...
They just move V class from MercedesBenzVans to MercedesBenzCars, and try to catch Audi and BMW.
vc.webp
 
The thing is.. playa haters will always have something to bitch about:)

Big up to MB for making progress!
 
@tomazino

Exactly. No other car manufacturer DOES NOT INCLUDE passenger van sales into passenger car sales. Being that VW, Renault, Citroen / Peugeot, Opel, Fiat, Ford etc. All of sudden Daimler decided to use "creative statistics" to boost the passenger car sales numbers even more ... Strange move. I wonder the other van makers will follow Daimler in this move or not. Usually vans - even the passenger vans with 8(+) seats - are considered a commercial vehicles, not passenger vehicles. What's next? Moving minibus sales figures to the passenger sales figures - since some XXL families buy a minibus for a primary family vehicle?
 
^ Look who's talking..

According to The Wall Street Journal, BMW AG may have inflated the company's July sales figures in order to edge Mercedes-Benz as the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. The same source reports that BMW offered on July 31 (the day before the sales figure of July were published) discounts as high as $7,000 per 2012MY car with the condition that the dealers reported the cars as being sold that day. The Journal wrote that hundreds of cars that were reported as being sold are in BMW's dealerships right now being advertised as brand new.
 
Yeah whats wrong with having the V in there, it is a damn passenger bus...

Is there any other bus then passenger bus? o_O Cargo bus, perhaps? Bus for Cattle?

And what's the seat limit for a passenger vehicle? 5? 6? 7? 8? 9? Or perhaps 50? Why not counting bus sales as passenger vehicle sales as well? Buses are used for transporting passengers, aren't they? So? Please, Daimler, include MB luxury buses into passenger vehicles sales as well. :D:rolleyes:
 
^ Look who's talking..

According to The Wall Street Journal, BMW AG may have inflated the company's July sales figures in order to edge Mercedes-Benz as the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. The same source reports that BMW offered on July 31 (the day before the sales figure of July were published) discounts as high as $7,000 per 2012MY car with the condition that the dealers reported the cars as being sold that day. The Journal wrote that hundreds of cars that were reported as being sold are in BMW's dealerships right now being advertised as brand new.


It's a common practice. Nothing that MB & others wouldn't do (And they DO it!). Recorded sales numbers also include "sales to dealers", not only "sales to the customer" since dealers actually buy & pay the vehicles, and the car maker actually gets the money (from dealer). Sure it's then up to dealers to move the vehicles from the lot. Usually such actions include the outgoing MY vehicles - which are often heavily discounted. It's a way to built inventories for a period when old MY models is already out of production & the new MY model production haven't started yet. There is usually few weeks long gap.

So, doing so the car maker moves the already produced outgoing MY models, offering then @ great prices, otherwise all those vehicles would either stay unsold or they will have to be discounted even more heavily.

I'm not sure how old & how frequently used is this practice in US but in Europe it's very common & have been used for many, many years. How else would you move outgoing MY models?
 
And what's the seat limit for a passenger vehicle? 5? 6? 7? 8? 9?


Depends in the case of the Mercedes V-Class/Vito. See this previous post below:


Wow it's definitely a stunner of a Family carrier - definitely will look at one for our family....does anyone know if it will have a 8 seater luxury version...Mercedes On A Roll For Sure..

The luxury version is to come with 6, 7 or 8 seats. The Vito based commercial version also with 9. The one below is the LWB V-Class. An SWB and XWB are to follow lateron. :)

2048_13c1359_101.webp


http://www.germancarforum.com/community/threads/2014-mercedes-benz-v-class.50178/#post-679846
 
I'm sure MB sales figures will be great this year ... Chinese sales finally picking up, tons of new desirable products like C- class (incl C-class LWB in China), GLA etc Including van sales in the passenger cars sales figures is still extremely odd. Still: what's stopping Daimler to start counting bus sales as passenger cars sales as well? What's the difference between eg. full-size passenger van ala V-class (that seats 9 people) & a real minibus (eg Sprinter Transfer that seats 12-16 people)? Why one is counted as a passenger vehicle why the other as commercial vehicle? I'm really confused.
 
To me the V class not vito is a family car I dont know about europe but here in SA many families buy A Vito now V class for the family...I seen two Vitos regularly carrying kids to and from school daily by their moms..No ways is that commercial please mr BMW marketing stop hating..

Also my bro who has three kids and his wife asked me when the new V comes to SA he thinking to sell his ML and buy this for his own use and I hope his kids and wife dont fall under commercial. ?.
 
What's the difference between eg. full-size passenger van ala V-class (that seats 9 people) & a real minibus (eg Sprinter Transfer that seats 12-16 people)? Why one is counted as a passenger vehicle why the other as commercial vehicle? I'm really confused.

Suspect it may also have something to do with the driver's license, as more than 9 seats requires a commercial D1 or D driver's license, instead of the normal B.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Führerschein_und_Fahrerlaubnis_(EU-Recht)#F.C3.BChrerscheinklassen

PS. The Mercedes-Benz V-Class seats up to 8. Only its commercial brother, the Vito, is supposed to seat up to 9.
 

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