Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Group Increases 2017 Vehicle Sales by 8.8%

Daimler AG (DAI.XE) said Monday that its car division--including the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands--sold more than 2.4 million vehicles in 2017, an increase of 8.8% from the previous year.

The Mercedes-Benz brand sold around 2.3 million cars worldwide between January and December, an increase of 9.9% from the prior year's equivalent period that the German car maker said was driven by the good performance of SUVs, and the E-Class saloon and estate models.

In December, combined Mercedes-Benz and Smart sales rose 0.2% to 205,429 vehicles, with those of the Mercedes-Benz brand increasing 1.7% and Smart sales declining 19%.

High annual unit sales were recorded across the company's three core regions of Europe, Asia-Pacific and the North American Free Trade Association area, Daimler said.

The company said that demand for Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Europe increased to 955,301 cars delivered to customers in the year--representing a rise of 6.4%.

In the Asia-Pacific region, 875,250 Mercedes-Benz vehicles were delivered in 2017, up 19% on year, while in China sales rose 26%. As for the Nafta area, Mercedes-Benz handed over 400,320 cars in 2017, surpassing the previous year's figure by 1.3%.

Write to Marc Navarro Gonzalez at marc.navarrogonzalez@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 08, 2018 05:12 ET (10:12 GMT)