Daimler said on May 11 that it expected to "substantially boost sales" in the second quarter after posting a strong increase in April.
Like its rivals Audi and BMW, Daimler was on solid ground last month, with sales that gained 12.3% from April 2009 to 102,100 vehicles.
Luxury car sales have rebounded worldwide, and Daimler saw double-digit growth rates in almost all markets. Daimler noted in particular "high demand in China and the United States and the great success of the E and S-Class" automobiles," sales director Joachim Schmidt said.
Chinese sales of Mercedes-Benz autos doubled to 11,300 units in April, while the U.S. market posted a 21% gain to 17,600.
Even the European market was positive, though it showed a much more modest increase of 1.7% to 45,800 vehicles, while strictly German sales were off by 2.2% at 21,600 vehicles.
In the first four months of 2010, Germany's three luxury carmakers were almost neck-and-neck, with BMW still in first place thanks to sales of 364,329 vehicles, not including its Mini and Rolls-Royce brands.
Audi posted four-month sales of 360,750 cars, and Daimler said it had sold 342,000 vehicles.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
