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Daimler re-enters growth path

September 5, 2012

In August, German luxury carmaker Daimler hugely outnumbered sales from a year ago, re-entering a three-year boom cycle which was briefly interrupted by slumping July sales. Growth came from all of the firm's brands.

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Image: Daimler AG

Top-of-the-range auto maker Daimler sold 97,337 cars in the month of August, which was 4.5 percent more vehicles sold than in the same month of 2011, according to figures released by the German carmaker Wednesday.

August sales had boosted Daimler's output total this year to 911,303 cars, the company said, which was 5.1 percent more than sales between January and August 2011.

In addition, the firm's August sales had reached a new all time monthly high, the Stuttgart-based firm added.

In August, Daimler was also able to reclaim three years of steady growth, briefly stopped in July when the luxury car maker sold fewer cars than in the previous month.

Daimler said that growth was garnered in all of its brands, which include Mercedes Benz, Smart, AMG and Maybach.

Major growth markets for the firm in August were the United States - plus 11.3 percent to a total of 22,557 cars sold - and China, where Daimler could increase sales by 2.8 percent to a total of 14,204 vehicles.

Surprisingly, sales picked up in western European markets, too, increasing to 33,350 Daimler cars - up 1.2 percent compared with August 2011.

In Germany, Daimler sold just 19,176 cars - down 1.2 percent - but dodging a much steeper decline in the German car market which shrank by 5 percent in August.

uhe/jr (dapd, dpa)