If record-breaking sales are any indication, some people just may be finding stars under their trees this holiday season … Mercedes-Benz stars, that is. In November, Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) achieved its third-highest sales month in 42 years of doing business in the U.S. with 22,079 units sold for the month, a 20.8 percent increase over last November’s 18,284 units. This is the tenth consecutive month that MBUSA has posted record-breaking sales and marks the company’s best November on record.
MBUSA’s year-to-date sales total 219,678 units, a 13.9 percent increase over the same period last year, and keeping Mercedes-Benz on track for accomplishing its 13th consecutive year of sales growth come the ringing in of the new year.
One hot ticket item on people’s wish lists this year – high-end luxury. All 20 of the Signature Edition CL600 luxury coupes – offered exclusively through Saks Fifth Avenue’s annual “The Gift” holiday catalog – sold at $160,000 each in less than eight minutes on November 14. Sales of the newest generation S-Class were nearly double this month over last November (2,780 vs. 1,400), boosting sales for the high-end vehicles as a group by 57.7 percent for the month (3,627 vs. 2,300) and 51.8 percent for the year-to-date (36,787 vs. 24,230).
Not to be outdone, the E-Class also demonstrated impressive gains with a 26.6 percent increase over last November, coming out on top as the volume leader for the month with 4,918 units sold for the month. Sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, as a whole, grew 9.6 percent for the month (15,301 vs. 13,967).
Additionally, contrary to industry trends, Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the luxury light truck segment – ML-Class, R-Class, GL-Class and G-Class – continued to demonstrate impressive gains with a combined 57 percent increase over last November (6,778 vs. 4,317) and an 81 percent increase over year-to-date 2005 (60,373 vs. 33,360). The ML-Class rose 6.8 percent; the R-Class gained 5.1 percent; and the popularity of the GL-Class, the newest member of the Mercedes-Benz family of SUVs, contributed to the growth as well.
Separately, through the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned program, MBUSA sold 3,741 vehicles in November, an increase of 20.9 percent over last November, bringing the year-to-date total to 43,363 units, a 7.3 percent increase over the same period in 2005.
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