Mercedes-Benz says that March 2018 was its strongest ever month in terms of global sales, with the first three months of the year furthermore representing the most successful quarter in the Stuttgart-based firm’s history.
In March, the Mercedes-Benz brand delivered 237 307 new vehicles around the world, while first quarter sales amounted to 594 304 units. According to our maths, the South African market accounted for 2 379 units in March and 6 287 units in the first quarter.
In the third month of 2018, Mercedes-badged SUVs accounted for more than 80 000 units globally (the first time this figure has been achieved in a single month), while that figure rose to 211 636 units in the first quarter. The current best-selling SUV from the brand is the GLC, which enjoyed 33,4% year-on-year growth in the first quarter.
Benz says demand for the S-Class rose 29,4% to 22 691 units in the first quarter, while the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class posted record sales in both March and the first quarter (more than one in eight S-Class saloons sold in the first quarter of 2018 wore a Mercedes-Maybach badge).
“We once again emphasised our claim to leadership in the first quarter. With sales of more than 237 000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles in March, we achieved our strongest-selling month of all time and our best-ever quarter,” said Britta Seeger, member of the board of management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars marketing and sales.
“We started the spring season with our Mercedes-Benz dream cars worldwide. The new C-Class Cabriolet and Coupé were presented to the world public for the first time in New York and the new CLS has been available in Europe since March,” she added.
