Mercedes-Benz Again Global Luxury Car Sales Leader

Cars and Drivers

Published: January 8, 2018 10:00 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:43 am

German automaker Daimler reported record sales of 2.29 million Mercedes-Benz vehicles in 2017, a gain of 9.9% year over year. Including its smart brand vehicles, the company delivered more than 2.4 million vehicles in 2017.

Mercedes-Benz sales in the fourth quarter totaled 572,044 units, up 4.8% year over year, and the best fourth-quarter sales in the company’s history. December sales of 193,534 units (up 1.7%) are the best December total ever. Mercedes-Benz was the best-selling luxury brand in the world for the second consecutive year, according to the company.

The company also said that Mercedes-Benz was the market leader in luxury brand sales in several markets, including Germany, Great Britain, France, Turkey, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal, Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, India, the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

Sales of Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicles totaled more than 805,000 units in 2017, up 14% year over year, accounting for more than a third of the brand’s total sales. The company cited strong growth in China, Germany, France, the United States, and Great Britain.

The region posting the strongest growth was Asia-Pacific, where the company delivered 875,250 vehicles last year (up 19.2%). China was once again the company’s biggest sales market, not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but also worldwide: 587,868 Mercedes-Benz automobiles were delivered to Chinese customers last year, 25.9% higher year over year and a new sales record in China.

U.S. sales were down 0.9% year over year to around 340,000 units, even though SUV sales were higher this year. In the entire NAFTA region — including Canada and Mexico — Mercedes-Benz sales totaled 400,320, or up 1.9% year over year.

European sales rose 6.4% year over year to 955,301 units as the company sold more than 300,000 vehicles in Germany (up 3.5% compared with 2017). Sales rose 9.7% in France, 11.9% in Spain, 42.4% in Poland and 6.4% in Great Britain.

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