Mercedes-Benz Oct sales up 4.1% to 97,700 vehicles

Daimler AG said Friday that sales at its core Mercedes-Benz Cars division rose 4.1% on the year in October to 97,700 vehicles, marking the first monthly increase in 2009.

"We will continue this positive trend, and we expect sales in the fourth quarter to be above last year's level," Mercedes-Benz Cars' sales chief Joachim Schmidt said in a statement, adding that full-year sales in China are anticipated to rise more than 50% in 2009.

The Mercedes-Benz Cars unit comprises the Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach nameplates.

Last week, Daimler said fourth-quarter car sales are expected to be higher than in the third quarter, driven mainly by the new generation of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a crucial model for the unit both in terms of earnings and revenue per vehicle.

In the January-to-October period, the division's sales declined 14% compared with the same period last year to 923,300 cars, reflecting a steep fall in demand for luxury cars amid the economic downturn.

Sales of the Mercedes-Benz brand were up 7.2% on the year at 88,400 cars in October, but still down 14% at 826,000 in the first 10 months of the year.

Demand for new cars contracted sharply toward the end of last year as credit markets tightened and consumer confidence waned amid the financial crisis. As a result, most automakers will have lower year-on-year comparative figures in the coming months than so far this year.