Mercedes-Benz’s parent company, Daimler AG reported a 3.9pc increase in car and van sales in Q3 2020, driven by a 23.4pc surge in Chinese demand.
In January-September, Daimler sold 1.5 million cars and 221,879 vans, down 13.4 and 13.2pc from the same period last year, depicting the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global automotive industry.
However, in the third quarter of this year, Mercedes-Benz’s sales rose by 3.9pc to 613,770 units, offset by a 56.6pc decrease in deliveries by a subsidiary named ‘smart’ to 11,905 units. As a result, Daimler’s overall car sales rose by 1.2pc over the prior year to 625,675 units. Commercial van sales rose by 11.2pc to 95,933 units in the same period under comparison.
Regionally, China accounted for the largest chunk of these purchases, comprising 223,631 units from the carmaker’s total sales in Q3 2020. Sales in North America, mostly consisting of the US, fell by 9.8pc to 81,859 units in this period.