FYI: Mercedes-Benz Sales Up
The German-American automaker said that it delivered 106,500 cars last month, an increase of 1.3 percent from October 2004, but that the number of its ultracompact Smart cars fell by 18.8 percent to 12,300.
The number of Mercedes-Benz cars sold, led by demand for its B- and M-Class models, rose to 94,200 from 90,000.
More than 37,000 customers have bought a Mercedes-Benz B-Class since the model hit the European market in June, the company said, while October deliveries of the M-Class rose 59 percent to about 9,300 units.
It forecast another boost from its top-line S-Class executive car, which made its debut in September. S-Class deliveries rose by one-quarter in October to 5,100 units.
The new R-Class sports wagon roll-out in the United States got positive feedback, it added.
DaimlerChrysler's flagship Mercedes Car Group had been troubled by quality problems, a strong euro and model changeovers. The group also posted third-quarter operating profit of $526 million last month, up from $367 million in 2004.
Growth was strongest in Asia, which reported a 12.1 percent increase in deliveries to 7,500 last month, while deliveries to Western Europe rose 8.3 percent to 36,400 cars delivered.
In its home market, Germany, however, deliveries were down 9.1 percent to 35,200 for the month from a year ago.
In the first 10 months of the year, the number of deliveries rose by almost 1 percent to 985,100 compared to the first 10 months of 2004.



