Homemade Mercedes-Benz sells less than expected

Shanghai, June 10 (Gasgoo.com) The sales of both the locally made Mercedes-Benz E-Class and its C-Class have not come up to expectations in China, much lower than the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and imported vehicles of this brand, according to this global brand's dealerships in Beijing.

The latest statistics show that the Chinese made Mercedes-Benz C-Class sold only 450 units in the second half of the month after it went on sale in March 15, slightly more than the 387 units of E-Class in the whole month of March, but still far away from the expected sales goal. The earliest launched E-Class only made up 20% of the sales of all the locally made Mercedes-Benz cars in China in the first quarter of 2008.

Mercedes-Benz sold 13,165 vehicles from January to April in the Chinese market (including Hong Kong and Macau), up 48% from one year earlier. During the four-month period China became Mercedes-Benz R-class crossover's second largest market worldwide after the United States. This crown also went to Benz S-class by the end of last year. The imported Mercedes-Benz S-Class and luxury SUVs were sold best in China during the first four months this year.

To meet the booming demands from Chinese consumers, Mercedes-Benz officially launched the limited edition of Mercedes SLK Passion 08 at the 2008 Beijing auto show in April. The model was intended to boost Benz's sales in China together with its already locally built C-class and S-class sedan. Last year Mercedes-Benz sold 30,630 vehicles in China, an increase of 50 percent from 2006.

At the China launch of the imported C-Class in November 2007, Mercedes-Benz's China sales executive said that the sales of imported and locally made Mercedes-Benz vehicles would reach a 50:50 ratio by 2010. But the sales of Chinese-made Mercedes-Benz in the first quarter this year showed that this goal would be hard to attain. Chinese buyers prefer imported cars to home-made cars.