Mercedes-Benz sales are once again setting new records: Last month the brand had its best June ever. Worldwide, a total of 120,510 passenger cars were delivered to customers, an increase of 6.4 percent compared to the same month last year, when a high sales volume was recorded. Thanks to the strong sales in June, the second quarter of this year was the highest-volume quarter ever; sales increased 7.2 percent to a total of 329,979 units. In the first half of the year overall, Mercedes-Benz thus sold more vehicles than in the first half of any previous year. From January to June, 610,531 customers (Jan-Jun 2010: 556,691) decided to buy a Mercedes-Benz brand vehicle, an increase of 9.7 percent over the same period of last year.

Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars: “The first half of the year went very well for Mercedes-Benz. We achieved double-digit increases in many markets, our products are in demand, and we succeeded in setting a new record. Our aim is to continue this trend. In the second half of 2011 we want to achieve further growth compared to last year.”

The first half of this year was marked by dynamic development and high growth rates, particularly in Asia and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) countries. Sales of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in China rose 52.3 percent to the record-setting level of 92,174 units. Deliveries in June were up 19.1 percent compared to June 2010, with 16,278 units sold — yet another new record.

Good news was also reported in the other Asian markets: In Taiwan (plus 45.0 percent) and South Korea (plus 16.6 percent) Mercedes-Benz surpassed the previous best marks in the first half of the year. This was also the case in India (plus 40.3 percent) and Russia (plus 70.6 percent). Mercedes-Benz sales in Brazil were up 34.7 percent compared to the first half of 2010. In June, Mercedes-Benz achieved the best month of the company’s history in Brazil and Russia.

The brand was also very successful in its second largest market; the U.S. Sales were up 13.0 percent to 20,652 passenger cars in June. Deliveries to American customers totaled 110,926 units for the first half of the year, an increase of 7.0 percent over 2010’s figure. Mercedes-Benz remains the best-selling premium brand in its largest market – Germany - with sales last month totaling 26,747 vehicles. Since the beginning of the year, deliveries have risen slightly to 123,013 units.

As for Thailand, the Silver Star brand continues to be the luxury market leader for the 11th straight year since the establishment of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) with June sales totaling 455 units. First half of 2011 saw a delivery total of 2,495 units (Jan-Jun 2010: 2126) – an impressive 17 percent increase from the same period last year.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Paufler, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) said, “The C-Class, E-Class and S-Class are key models that drove our growth in the Thai luxury segment - thanks to our loyal customers who not only have faith in the superior quality, safety and value of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, but are also confident in purchasing from our authorized dealers. The new generation C-Class, recently launched in all authorized dealers nationwide will further support the strong market position of Mercedes-Benz in Thailand”.

On a worldwide level, this new- generation of C-Class as well as the S-Class saloon were important growth drivers in the first half of the year. Since its introduction, the new generation C-Class saloon has been defending the leading position in its class — and did so once again in June. Sales in the C-Class segment increased 11.4 percent in the first half of the year; in June, they were up 18.7 percent. The S-Class succeeded in defending its position as the best-selling luxury-class saloon — in the month of June and in the first six months of the year, with a sales increase of 18.1 percent to 35,956 units since January.