Mercedes-Benz may be bracing for a market slowdown next year, but the automaker's sales continue to soar in 2012. Mercedes announced on Thursday that it set a new company record for September sales last month.
Sales of Mercedes and Smart vehicles inched up 2.4 percent to 132,606 last month, good enough for a new company record. Mercedes believes the record-setting September will be enough to boost the company to yet another yearly sales record.
"We are still on track to achieve a new sales record for the year as a whole. We expect further momentum in the fourth quarter, especially from our new models," said Mercedes sales chief Joachim Schmidt in a statement.
Mercedes' China sales climbed 10 percent to 16,806 in September, the company's largest gain since March, according to Automotive News. Despite the strong gains, Mercedes still trails cross-country rival Audi in China. Audi's Chinese sales increased 20 percent to 35,512 units last month.
In the United States Mercedes' deliveries increased 7 percent to 23,156, keeping the automaker just ahead of BMW in the luxury sales race.
Things were as positive in Europe, however, where Mercedes sales fell 2.5 percent to 55,495 vehicles.
