Mercedes-Benz tops premium vehicle sales

Mercedes-Benz rounded up the year with the number one position in the premium car segment at a double-digit rate in 2016. The renowned German automaker sold more than two million vehicles last year worldwide (+11.3%) for the first time, thus surpassing its German competitors by selling the most premium cars worldwide.

Mercedes-Benz was also the bestselling premium brand in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, the USA and Canada for the full year 2016.

Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said, “2016 was the most successful year for Mercedes-Benz in the history of the company, and the sixth record year in succession. With new cars with pioneering design that inspire our customers and with particularly strong growth, above all in China and Europe, we have climbed to the top of the premium segment. And we are accelerating further – with new technologies, products and services.”

The year 2016 ended with the highest-ever unit sales in a December, which was also the 46th consecutive record month (190,269 units, +6.8%), and with the best quarter of all time (545,967 units, +10.2%).

Europe was the biggest sales region of Mercedes-Benz once again in 2016. With growth of 12.4%, primarily due to strong sales of the E-Class and the SUVs, best-ever volumes were achieved; nearly 900,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles were sold to customers in Europe in the past twelve months.

The C-class remains the bestselling model with a sale of estates and saloons of approximately 425,000 in 2016 alone. Since 1982, over nine million models of the C-Class have been sold worldwide with the largest individual market being China and new best-ever unit sales in Japan (+3.5%), South Korea (+25%), Australia (+14.8%), Taiwan (+17.4%) and Malaysia (+8.6%).

Mercedes-AMG grew strongly once again in the year 2016 and significantly surpassed the record year of 2015 with 44.1% growth. With 99,235 cars delivered, the sports-car and high-performance brand from Mercedes-Benz, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017, continued along its successful path. This means that the Mercedes-AMG unit sales have more than tripled in the past three years.

The biggest model offensive in the history of AMG took place in 2016: the product portfolio was expanded with more than ten new models. Customers worldwide were particularly attracted by the “43” models and the compact models. The strongest-selling markets for AMG automobiles were once again the USA, Germany and China in 2016.

According to Mirko Plath, Managing Director, Weststar Associates Limited, sole general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Nigeria, “It’s an amazing achievement, Mercedes-Benz has set a new global standard.’’