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MALTATODAY 18 August 2019

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M4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 AUGUST 2019 MOTORING MERCEDES-BENZ started the third quarter with a new sales record for the month of July: A total of 188,857 cars with the three-pointed star were deliv- ered (+12.7%). The ongoing model changes in the high-vol- ume compact-car segment had a positive impact on unit sales last month. There were also significant increases in worldwide unit sales in July of the S-Class Sa- loon (+17.7%), the E-Class Sa- loon and Estate (+11.1%) and the C-Class Saloon and Estate (+10.4%). Double-digit growth in unit sales was achieved in all regions and core markets in July. In the first seven months of the year, Mercedes-Benz de- fended its market leadership in the premium segment in markets including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portu- gal, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, South Korea and Canada. "We are very satisfied with the start to the third quar- ter. The best July of all time for Mercedes-Benz unit sales confirms our positive expecta- tions for the coming months," stated Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Market- ing and Sales. "I am delighted with the great response from customers to our new compact cars and that the improved availability of our new SUVs has already had an impact on sales. And the Mer- cedes-Benz luxury and full-size saloons, the S-Class and the E- Class, were also very popular in July." Mercedes-Benz unit sales by region and market In the Europe region, 73,633 Mercedes-Benz vehicles were sold in July (+12.3%). Sales of 26,331 units in Germany, the domestic market, were 18.2% higher than in the prior-year month. With 173,682 cars with the star sold from January to July, unit sales were at the prior-year level again. Unit sales increased in July in nearly all European markets. Compared with July 2018, double-digit growth rates were achieved in markets in- cluding France, Russia, Bel- gium, Switzerland, Portugal and Sweden. Last month was the best-ever July in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Por- tugal, Poland, Denmark and Hungary. A new July record was set for deliveries in the Asia-Pacific region, where 82,039 cars with the star were handed over to customers (+11.6%). In Chi- na, the region's core market, the Stuttgart-based company with the three-pointed star sold 59,435 vehicles in July (+13.0%). Mercedes-Benz thus set new records in China for cars de- livered both in July and for the first seven months of the year (404,092 units, +2.9%). Mer- cedes-Benz started the third quarter with best-ever unit sales in July also in South Korea and Australia. In the NAFTA region, the Stuttgart-based company with the three-pointed star posted significant growth in unit sales in July: 29,241 cars delivered represent an increase of 17.5% compared with the prior-year month. The strong development of sales in July was primarily driv- en by the region's core mar- ket, the United States, where 24,612 cars with the star were sold last month (+22.9%). In the first seven months of the year, sales by Mercedes-Benz in the United States totalled 172,008 vehicles (-3.8%), a sig- nificant improvement of sales development compared with the previous month June. Mercedes-Benz unit sales by model With sales of more than 55,000 units, the compact cars with the star recorded double- digit growth of 29.7% in July. Last month, the new B-Class actually achieved very strong worldwide growth of 52.7%. The new B-Class has been avail- able also in Japan since July. In the first seven months of the year, more than 368,000 units of the A- and B-Class, CLA, CLA Shooting Brake and GLA were sold worldwide (+7.3%). The popularity of the new A- Class continues, with growth in unit sales of 33.6% in the months of January to July. New records were therefore set by the compact cars both for July and for the first seven months of the year. Last month, approximately 5,800 units of the S-Class Sa- loon were sold worldwide (+17.7%). This growth was driven especially by China, the biggest sales market for the Mercedes-Benz luxury auto- mobile. The S-Class Maybach also achieved strong growth worldwide in July. In the SUV segment, im- proved vehicle availability had a positive impact last month: sales of approximately 61,000 units of the GLA, GLC, GLC Coupé, GLE, GLE Coupé, GLS and G-Class were just 1.2% be- low the prior-year level. Sales of the G-Class in the first seven months of the year are already on the way to set- ting a new record in 2019: more than 20,000 units were sold worldwide from January to July (+78.7%). Smart From January to July, 69,329 cars from the Smart brand were handed over to custom- ers worldwide (-10.0%). Unit sales of the two-door and four-door urban microcars in- creased during that period in markets including Germany (+8.2%), France (+22.3%), Por- tugal (+3.4%), Belgium (+6.9%), Switzerland (+14.7%) and Aus- tria (+44.8%). The Smart brand is transitioning to purely elec- tric drive and will successively reduce its offering of models with combustion engines in all European markets until 2020. Mercedes-Benz starts third quarter with double-digit growth

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