FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) ** German car maker Daimler AG said Tuesday that unit sales at it's Mercedes-Benz Cars division totaled 96,600 vehicles in February 2008, an increase of 18% from the figure recorded for the same month last year, 82,000 units, setting a new benchmark.
In addition, deliveries of Mercedes-Benz, AMG, smart, and Maybach brand vehicles over the first two months of the year rose 17% to the record level of 187,000 units, compared to 159,700 in the first two months of 2007.
The Mercedes-Benz brand also set a record in February by posting a sales increase of 13% to 87,800 units worldwide compared to 78,000 in February 2007.
The response to the new smart fortwo in existing markets has been outstanding, and further growth of the smart brand has also been helped by the launch of the two-seater in the U.S.
Deliveries of the smart fortwo worldwide more than doubled in February to 8,800 units, compared with 3,400 in February 2007. Since the model was introduced in mid January, a total of 1,800 customers in the U.S. have taken delivery of the smart fortwo from one of the about 70 dealerships.