Mercedes-Benz June 2012 Sales Up 12.5%

[xcel]

C-Class continues to power the luxury marques sales with E-Class bringing in the big $’s.

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - July 3, 2012

2012 Mercedes-Benz E-Class - Priced from $50,675. Although fuel efficiency is not a highlight, at least safety is.

The ninth generation E-Class Sedan is just the latest iteration of the more than 10 million E-Class vehicles produced over the past 60-plus years. The E-Class Sedan lineup features the E350 and E550 models, along with the E63 AMG and new E350 BlueTEC. New safety features include Active Lane Keeping Assist and Active Blind Spot Assist with automatic brake intervention.

The E-Class is equipped with 9-air bags including the standard front, side and side curtains plus out board rear sides and a drivers front. Missing is the passenger knee that come standard with midsize vehicles costing as little as one-third the price?

The Turbo Diesel

Available in all 50 states, the new E350 BlueTEC is powered by a 3.0L V6 turbo diesel with 210 HP and a torque shaft bending 400 lb.-ft. of torque plus 30 percent better fuel economy than a comparable gasoline engine. We are speaking about a 21/32 mpgUS city/highway rating which imho is pathetic for a vehicle the size of an Elantra and whose much larger midsize competitors that are now rated at 35 to 38 mpg on the highway using gasoline!

The World's Most Aerodynamic Luxury Sedan

With an impressive aerodynamic drag coefficient of only 0.27, the US E-Class is literally one of if not the most aerodynamic luxury sedans on the planet. The car's slippery profile means even better fuel economy and less wind noise at highway speeds but as mentioned above, somebody missed the part about EPA busting fuel economy from a simple 3.0L Turbo diesel engine. Of course the E-Class does weigh in at over 4,000 pounds vs. the 3,200 – 3,800 pound mid-sizes I am comparing it too.

Sport and Luxury Models

The E-Class Sedan is available in Sport or Luxury trim that is designed to appeal to a wide range of customer tastes. All Luxury models come with a comfort suspension and can be identified by a four-lamella front grille and a four-spoke steering wheel. Sport models have a three-lamella grille, a three-spoke steering wheel and are fitted with a sport suspension that has stiffer shocks and springs as well as slightly lower ride height.

Mercedes-Benz June sales

Mercedes-Benz reported combined June sales of 25,388 with what it is calling its "Best Ever" month for its Mercedes-Benz, smart and Sprinter lineup. The year-to-date total is even more impressive, up 20.8% to 142,619 vehicles sold, MBUSA's highest first-half on record.

Mercedes-Benz models posted June sales of 22,231, a 7.6 % improvement over June 2011, delivering a year-to-date total of 128,595 new vehicles to customers, up 15.9%.

Sales for the month of June were led by the C-, E- and M-Class model lines. The C-Class lineup led the brand with sales of 6,506 vehicles. The 9th generation E-Class followed with sales of 5,589.

On a year-to-date basis, top performers again were the C-Class with 37,686, the E-Class with 30,366 and the M-Class with 20,626.

Sales of the company's BlueTEC diesel models were also up 50.3% for the year at 8,945 compared to the 5,953 diesels sold over the same time last year.

On the one-year anniversary of the smart brand coming under the MBUSA sales umbrella, the micro model lineup achieved the highest reported volume since August of 2009. June sales of 1,017 vehicles represent a 208% jump for the month (compared to the 330 vehicles sold in June 2011), bringing the year-to-date volume to 4,748, up 86%. There must have been a give-away lease, huge price reduction or something?

On the commercial van side, sales of Sprinter vans experienced their best-ever sales in June with 2,140, up 12% over last year and up 30.7% on a year-to-date basis.

Mercedes-Benz June 2012 Highlights and Overall Sales

Model	Jun-12	Jun-11	Jun-DSR % change	Jun-12 YTD	Jun-11 YTD	YTD-DSR % change
C-Class	6,506	4,620	+35.6%	37,686	29,981	+24.1%
E-Class	5,589	5,798	- 7.2%	30,366	31,960	-6.2%
Mercedes-Benz Totals	25,388	22,563	+8.4%	142,619	118,021	+19.3%

The daily selling rate (DSR) is calculated with 27 days for June 2012 and 26 days for June 2011. Year-to-date,
the DSR is calculated with 154 days for 2012 and 152 days for 2011. All percentages reflect DSR.

Top 10 – June 2012 US Automobile Sales Leaders

Sales Rank	Make	Model	Jun-12	Jun-11	Jun-DSR % change	Jun-12 YTD	Jun-11 YTD	YTD-DSR % change
1	Ford	F-Series	55,025	49,618	+6.8%	301,141	264,079	+12.6%
2	Chevrolet	Silverado	33,566	32,579	-0.8%	141,437	122,783	+13.7%
3	Toyota	Camry	32,107	21,375	+44.6%	213,903	147,469	+43.2%
4	Chevrolet	Malibu	31,402	23,737	+27.4%	141,437	122,783	+13.7%
5	Honda	Accord	28,924	15,712	+77.3%	155,178	127,105	+20.5%
6	Ford	Escape	28,500	22,274	+23.2%	127,167	122,607	+2.4%
7	Honda	Civic	27,500	17,485	+51.5%	162,582	127,571	+25.8%
8	Toyota	Corolla	26,647	18,872	+36.0%	151,726	136,747	+9.5%
9	Ford	Fusion	24,443	20,808	+13.1%	136,849	131,686	+2.6%
10	Ram	P/U	23,951	21,362	+8.0%	138,581	111,898	+22.2%

The daily selling rate (DSR) is calculated with 27 days for June 2012 and 26 days for June 2011. Year-to-date,
the DSR is calculated with 154 days for 2012 and 152 days for 2011. All percentages reflect DSR.

Top 10 Sales Leaders - Items of note: Camry swapped places from 2 to 3 with the Chevrolet Silverado while the F-Series punched through the 50,000 mark for the fourth consecutive month. Malibu jumped from 7th to 3rd, Accord climbed one from 6th to 5th, Escape leapt from off the list last month to 6th this, the Civic fell from 4th to 7th, the Corolla fell from 5th to 8th, Fusion fell from 8th to 9th and RAM fell from 9th to 10th. The CR-V fell off the list by a few hundred vehicles.

B-Segment Sales Rank

1. Nissan Versa - 8,746
2. Chevrolet Sonic - 6,785
3. Hyundai Accent - 5,660
4. Ford Fiesta - 4,589
5. Honda Fit - 4,584
6. Kia Rio - 3,668
7. Toyota Yaris - 2,007
8. Mazda2 - 938

C-Segment Sales Rank

1. Honda Civic - 27,500
2. Toyota Corolla - 26,647
3. Ford Focus - 21,186
4. Chevrolet Cruze - 18,983
5. Hyundai Elantra - 17,655
6. VW Jetta - 11,598
7. Nissan Sentra - 9,211
8. Mazda3 - 8,835
9. Kia Forte - 7,461

D-Segment Sales Rank

1. Toyota Camry - 32,107
2. Chevrolet Malibu - 31,402
3. Honda Accord - 28,924
4. Ford Fusion - 24,433
5. Nissan Altima - 21,812
6. Hyundai Sonata - 20,931
7. Kia Optima - 13,393
8. Chrysler 200 - 10,871
9. VW Passat - 10,252

Segment ranking items of note: In the B-Segment ranks, the Fit and Rio swapped positions while Yaris sales fell sharply. The C-Segment ranks did not change other than the Sentra jumping two places ahead of both the Mazda3 and Kia Forte. The D-Segment ranks saw the Accord swap places with the Malibu from 2nd to 3rd .

Automobile Manufacturer's US Sales Rank – June 2012 vs. June 2011 Comparison and Total Sales

1. GM June Sales up 15.5% with 248,750 vehicles sold.
2. Ford June Sales up 7.0% with 207,759 vehicles sold.
3. Toyota June Sales up 60.3% with 177,795 vehicles sold.
4. Chrysler June Sales up 20.3% with 144,811 vehicles sold.
5. Honda June Sales up 48.8% with 124,808 vehicles sold.
6. Nissan June Sales up 28.2% with 92,237 vehicles sold.
7. Hyundai June Sales up 7.8% with 63,813 vehicles sold.
8. Kia June Sales up 13.9% with 51,326 vehicles sold.
9. VW June Sales up 34.2% with 38,170 vehicles sold.
10. BMW June Sales up 3.2% with 27,720 vehicles sold.
11. Subaru June Sales up 40.0% with 27,702 vehicles sold.
12. Mercedes-Benz June Sales up 12.5% with 25,388 vehicles sold.
13. Mazda June Sales up 3.1% with 19,911 vehicles sold.
14. Audi June Sales up 26.0% with 12,664 vehicles sold.

Through the first six months of 2012, the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) is running at approximately 14.3 million.

[jimmyy1]

Mercedes doesn't surprise me! they are great and know where and when to attack...