As predicted by AutoSpies.com

MERCEDES-BENZ USA RECORDS HIGHEST AUGUST SALES RECORD

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA)reported its highest August on record with sales of 19,267 new vehicles, an increase of 7.1 percent over last August, bringing the year-to-date sales total to 138,692 vehicles.

The new 2006 M-Class continued its strong momentum in the market, with a sales increase of 51 percent over August 2004. The month was also marked by a significant jump in SLK-Class sales, which increased 107.5 percent over August 2004. Highlights for the month further included a 9.1 percent sales increase for the E-Class and gains for the SL-Class, which is up 15.1 percent over August 2004.

Separately, the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned vehicle program reported August sales of 3,660 units, bringing the year-to-date total to 30,640.

In 2004, MBUSA achieved its eleventh consecutive year of sales growth by setting the highest sales volume in its history with 221,610 new vehicle sales and expects to continue the momentum with another record year of sales in 2005.

MercBasher - 9/2/2005 11:36:22 AM

+1 Boost

Yes it's good, but when you factor in the give-away pricing/lease deals on S, E and C class models, is it really surprising. Could you also post data for Acura, Lexus, BMW and Infiniti sales in the US in August. My gut instinct is that all of these probably saw similar sales increases to those of M-B, and they probably achieved it without the give-away pricing.

Can you confirm please?

MercBasher - 9/2/2005 11:58:51 AM

+1 Boost

Ah here is some comparative data (source Automotive News) for sales change in the US for August, and year to date

Acura up 17% in August and 10.6% YTD
BMW (excl Mini) 15.2% and 1.2%
Infiniti 9.3% and 7.2%
Lexus 10.7% and 4.2%
Mercedes 7.1% and minus 1.0%

KIND OF PUTS THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE DON'T YOU THINK!

So folks M-B continues to lose-out relative to it's toughest competition - imagine the situation if M-B didn't have the new ML, or wasn't giving away S, E and C class models.

Anim8or - 9/5/2005 8:02:46 PM

+1 Boost

Up as well

August 2005 from August 2004: Up 6.8%

August 2005 Year-to-date from 2004: Up 0.7%

Anim8or - 9/6/2005 1:10:18 PM

+1 Boost

For some reason, the webmaster deleted my second post about Audi world sales....

Again, the figures I posted above were for **US** Audi sales. Here again is the data for Audi WORLDWIDE sales:

- WORLDWIDE August 2005 from August 2004: Up 18.5%

- WORLDWIDE August 2005 Year-to-date from 2004: Up 11.1%

Since Q1 2005, Audi has been the fastest growing luxury carmaker in the world, besting both BMW and Merc (source: BusinessWeek's Top 100 World Brands).

Even in the USA, which is one of the company's poorest markets, Audi is growing faster then even in its long history.

And as you can see by Audi's August worldwide numbers, it has grown more than its German rivals.

Anim8or - 9/8/2005 7:41:41 PM

+1 Boost

Huh?

I don't know where on the Audi site you got your info, but it's dead wrong.

Again, year-to-end sales as of August are up for both the US and especially Worldwide.