- Sales increase for Mercedes-Benz and smart in April
- Sales of A-Class, SLK roadster and CLS models reach record levels
- smart deliveries up 33 percent through April
Sales of Mercedes-Benz brand vehicles increased one percent last month, to 92,400 units (April 2004: 91,500 units), bringing total sales through April to 318,800 units (Jan.-April 2004: 341,000 units). With the exception of the German market, which remains sluggish, all of the brand's key regions — Western Europe, the U.S. and Asia — contributed to this positive development by posting sales increases. New vehicles unveiled in 2004 have achieved record sales levels: For example, roughly 113,400 customers have purchased the new A-Class since it was launched on the market in September 2004. More than 20,300 CLS-Class models have been delivered to customers worldwide since that vehicle became available in October 2004 — with 13,700 units delivered in the first four months of 2005 alone. The new SLK has also surpassed its predecessor's best sales performance and clearly remains the world market leader in its segment: More than 66,300 new SLK roadsters have been delivered to customers worldwide since the model's market launch at the end of March 2004 — 21 percent more than the figure achieved in the predecessor model’s best sales year.
Further sales momentum is expected to be created by the new generation of V6 and V8 engines and by the new models from 2005. The new M-Class, for example, got off to an excellent start in its primary sales market in the U.S. at the beginning of April, and it made a major contribution to the sales record set by Mercedes-Benz in the U.S. in April. With three months remaining until market launch in Western Europe, demand for the model is also very high in this region.
More than 20,000 orders for the new B-Class
The new B-Class, which will arrive at Western European dealerships in June, is already a big hit with customers, who have placed more than 20,000 orders for the new model to date. Rounding out the product range in the sports tourer segment is the R-Class, which will be launched initially in North America this fall before becoming available in Europe at the beginning of 2006.
The new S-Class, the flagship model of Mercedes-Benz, will debut this fall. Despite the coming model changeover, the current S Class maintained its top position in the luxury segment against significantly younger competitors, posting a world market share of 28 percent through April.
Sales of smart forfour increase — record demand for BRABUS models
The positive sales development for the smart brand continues, with worldwide customer deliveries up ten percent in April, to 12,500 units. During the first four months of 2005 the company sold 47,700 smart vehicles, an increase of 33 percent on the figure recorded during the same period last year. The main contributor to this substantial increase is the smart forfour, which was launched in April 2004.
smart is also achieving excellent results on the Canadian market, where well over 2,000 smart fortwo cdi vehicles (double the original sales forecast) have been sold since the market launch of that model just over six months ago. In addition, 1,300 smart vehicles were delivered to customers in Canada during the first four months of 2005 alone.
Demand for the exclusive BRABUS design and equipment line is also developing extremely well, increasing by more than 90 percent in the first quarter of 2005. The company expects the BRABUS version of the smart forfour (now available) and the new entry-level model, the smart forfour pure, to generate additional sales momentum in the coming months.
