Mercedes Car Group unit sales fall 1.5 percent in September

Reuters / October 6, 2006 - 11:00 am FRANKFURT -- DaimlerChrysler's luxury arm Mercedes Car Group posted a 1.5 percent decline in vehicle sales to 116,100 units in September as a double-digit drop in Smart sales dragged on results, it said today.

While demand at its core Mercedes-Benz brand remained flat at 106,600 vehicles last month, DaimlerChrysler said Smart suffered a 16.4 percent decline in sales to just 9,500 units.

But DaimlerChrysler said the response to the new Mercedes-Benz E class had been "very positive" and said demand rose 2 percent worldwide to 21,000 sedans and wagons in September.

DaimlerChrysler hopes that the facelift of its key model will help it perform clearly better in the market than its predecessor.

In the nine months through September, sales at Mercedes Car Group rose 5.8 percent to 934,200 units as a 9.4 percent rise in Mercedes-Benz sales to a record 846,300 vehicles offset an almost 20 percent drop in Smart sales to 87,900 cars.

Mercedes Car Group has said it was on track to deliver its 7 percent profit margin target next year following product renewal at Mercedes-Benz led by its S-class sedan and a radical clampdown on costs at its struggling Smart unit.

Due to problems at both the Chrysler group and European aerospace firm EADS, in which DaimlerChrysler has an industrial holding, Mercedes-Benz sales will resume their traditional role of supporting group earnings.

DaimlerChrysler's main competitor, BMW, expects to report September vehicle sales for its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands on Monday, Oct. 9.

On Thursday, Oct. 5, Volkswagen's premium brand Audi said unit sales rose 7.3 percent last month to 83,200 units helped by the all-new Q7 SUV.