Moses Akaigwe
The three-pointed star brand, Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 195,690 vehicles worldwide in May (representing about -1.3 percent compared to the same month last year). The sales success of the new A-Class and the new CLA Coupé, which was launched in Europe in the month under review, had a positive effect last month.
In a highly competitive market environment worldwide, the new compact-car models in particular generated sales momentum in many key markets. Nonetheless, ongoing model changes in the highest-volume SUV segment had a dampening impact on total unit sales. Mercedes-Benz sold 938,499 units in the first five months of the year (-4.7 percent). In May, Mercedes-Benz maintained its market leadership in the premium segment in markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, South Korea, Japan and Australia.
“Despite a challenging market environment and ongoing model changes, Mercedes-Benz increased its unit sales in many markets in May. We are very confident that the significant sales momentum from our model offensive will be reflected in the second half of the year, particularly with the SUVs,” said Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing and Sales. “The third month in a row with worldwide growth in sales of Mercedes-Benz compact cars demonstrates the strong demand for our new models. We are very pleased with the excellent feedback, especially from our younger customers, on the launch of the new CLA Coupé in Europe, on the new A-Class and on our MBUX multimedia system.”
Sales by region, market. This May, deliveries in Europe were above the high level of the prior-year month: 81,762 Mercedes-Benz vehicles were sold in the region (+0.9 percent). The company with the three-pointed star posted a sales increase in its core market of Germany, where a total of 27,806 cars were delivered to customers in May (+5.9 percent).
In Spain, Mercedes-Benz surpassed its unit sales of the prior-year month with a double-digit growth of 14.6 percent. Mercedes-Benz was also able to achieve sales growth in the past month also in the markets of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal and Hungary.
In the Asia-Pacific region, 77,694 cars were sold with the star (-2.2 percent). Deliveries in May in China, the region’s core market, were slightly below the strong prior-year month with a total of 55,589 vehicles handed over to customers (-0.9 percent). In the first five months of this year, deliveries of 287,639 units were 1.6 percent higher than in the prior-year period. In Malaysia, unit sales increased at a double-digit rate, while a new record was set for the month of Mayin South Korea and Vietnam.
Mercedes-Benz sold 31,933cars in the NAFTA {north America} region last month (-2.1 percent). In the region’s core market, theUnited States, the Stuttgart-based company with the star was able to maintain the high level of sales of the previous year and even slightly exceeded it: 27,080 customers were delighted to receive a new Mercedes-Benz automobile (+0.4%). In Mexico, deliveries of Mercedes Benz cars increased to 3.0% compared with May 2018.
Sales by model. Sales of Mercedes-Benz compact cars increased for the third month in a row: More than 58,000 A- and B-Class, CLA, CLA Shooting Brake and GLA models were sold in May (+10.0 percent) and global sales of the new A-Class increased by 41.1percent. In the first year of full availability since its market launch in May 2018, more than 195,000 units of the new A-Class have already been sold worldwide. In Europe, deliveries of the new CLA Coupé increased by a substantial8.5 percent above the prior-year level in the month of market launch. The new B-Class achieved strong sales growth in Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Switzerland.
More than 28,000 E-Class Saloon and Estate were delivered in May (-1.7 percent).