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Mercedes-Benz records 1.18 million sales in H1

By Benjamin Alade
13 July 2018   |   4:20 am
Following its sales from January to June, this year, Mercedes-Benz maintained its position as the premium brand with the most new registrations in several markets to include Germany, France, Russia, Switzerland, Portugal, South Korea, Australia, the United States of America and Canada.

PHOTO:AFP

  •Unveils showroom in Lagos

Following its sales from January to June, this year, Mercedes-Benz maintained its position as the premium brand with the most new registrations in several markets to include Germany, France, Russia, Switzerland, Portugal, South Korea, Australia, the United States of America and Canada.
   
According to the foremost automobile firm, from April to June, 594,528 customers received their new Mercedes-Benz, thus, Mercedes-Benz sold more vehicles than ever before in a half-year.Since the beginning of the year, 1,188,832 cars with the three-pointed star were delivered to customers all over the world. Unit sales were thus 3.9 per cent higher than in the previous highest first half-year in 2017.

Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing and Sales, Britta Seeger, revealed. The company in a statement made available to The Guardian explained that it could look back on the strongest-selling quarter in the companies’ history.With 203,783 vehicles sold, June was the month with the second highest sales since the beginning of the year (-2.6 per cent). Figures of last month were affected amongst other things by a fire at a US supplier. This meant a significant lower production of the SUVs for the world market at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa and sales were less than planned.

  
Seeger said: “Thanks to an outstanding team performance, we can look back on the most successful half-year in the history of Mercedes-Benz: with more than 1.18 million cars sold in the first six months, we have laid a good foundation for a successful year 2018.” 
 
“The new A-Class has had a very successful reception from the markets and we will launch the new C-Class in July. These two volume models will make a significant contribution to the sales success of Mercedes-Benz in the second half of the year.”However, the automobile services limited through its authorised dealers in Nigeria, Westar Associates Limited unveiled a world class, state-of-the art showroom in Lagos.
 
The showroom was the company’s resolve to establish a strategic point of sale location that appeals to its customers and provide easy access and better customer service experience.The new showroom, which is located at 37, Akin Adesola, Victoria Island boasts of convenient parking space, world-class comfort for clients and visitors and an array of latest Mercedes-Benz vehicle models on display.
 
Speaking at the official unveiling of the showroom, General Consul, Republic of Germany to Nigeria, Ingo Herbert, said commended the company for its unwavering commitment to keeping the Mercedes-Benz brand alive. In his words: “I am personally thrilled and excited with the unveiling of this showroom. This shows that the Mercedes-Benz brand is waxing stronger on a daily basis in the Nigerian auto market. This increase has been made possible by the uniformity of increased bilateral trades between Nigeria and Germany. This investment is no doubt a game changer for the Mercedes-Benz brand in Nigeria”.
 
Managing Director, Mercedes Benz Automobiles Services Limited, Benson Uwatse, hinted that the need to constantly innovate and bring satisfaction to the varied customers of the Mercedes-Benz brand in Nigeria engineered the decision to unveil the new showroom.He said: “This new showroom is specially designed to cater for all categories of our customers. Our customers are dear to us always. Our decision to give them the best of quality, comfort coupled with excellent service spurred us into the acquisition of this new complex”.
 
Managing Director, Westar Associates Nigeria Limited,Mirko Plath, noted that the opening of the showroom is indeed a milestone worth celebrating. He reaffirmed the company’s resolve to continually give the best to customers, propelling the sighting of the new showroom. Meanwhile, in Europe, Mercedes-Benz sold 476,790 cars in the first half of the year (-1.5 per cent), which is slightly less than in the previous, so far best, first half-year in 2017.
   
Approximately one third of those cars were sold in Germany, where more than 150,000 customers were able to receive their new Mercedes-Benz (-0.2 per cent). In France, Spain, Sweden, Poland and Denmark, more cars with the three-pointed star were sold than ever before in the first six months of a year.Mercedes-Benz explained that it completed the first half of the year in the Asia-Pacific region with new best-ever sales, which increased by a double-digit 12.5 per cent to 493,358 units.The biggest contribution to this growth came from China, where 340,164 cars with the three-pointed star were sold in the first six months, an increase of 16.2 per cent.
 
According to the automobile firm, more cars of Mercedes-Benz than ever before in the first half-year were also sold in the markets of South Korea, Japan, India, Thailand and Malaysia.In the NAFTA region, 191,249 Mercedes-Benz vehicles were handed over to customers in the period of January to June (-1.1 per cent). Sales of 158,848 units in the USA were 1.9 per cent below the very high prior-year figure. In Canada and Mexico, Mercedes-Benz set new sales records in the first six months of the year.Also, Sales of the S-Class Saloon increased by 27.5 per cent to 43,106 units in the first half of the year. Growth in sales of the luxury model was particularly strong in the flagship’s biggest markets – China, the USA, South Korea and Germany.
   
The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class Saloon set a new record in the first half of the year. Since its market launch, more than 30,000 units have now been handed over to customers.
Meanwhile, the demand for the E-Class Saloon and Estate is higher than ever before. Since the beginning of the year, sales increased to the new record number of 182,135 units (+0.1 per cent). The long-wheelbase version of the E-Class Saloon was especially popular in the first half-year; just like the long-wheelbase version of the C-Class Saloon, it posted very strong growth and a new sales record.
  
Despite restricted production of the GLE and GLS models last month, the SUVs from Mercedes-Benz achieved a new sales record in the first half of the year: a total of 422,645 units of the GLA, GLC, GLC Coupé, GLE, GLE Coupé, GLS and G-Class were delivered to customers worldwide (+9.8 per cent). This was primarily due to the bestseller amongst the SUVs, the GLC.
 

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