You won't believe how many cars Mercedes-Benz sold in just three months

In the face of slowing Total Industry Volume (TIV) and an overall economy that is mostly living hand-to-mouth; Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) remians bullishly resilient and bucks the trends in fine form, posting a record breaking 41 per cent growth in Quarter 1 (Q1) of 2015.

Finishing of a staggering 2015, having delivered a total 10,845 vehicles – Mercedes-Benz have managed not only to maintain healthy sales numbers, notably already a challenge for most manufacturers, but increase their bite of the market pie.

Q1 saw a total of 2658 vehicles registered and delivered, besting 2015’s Q1 results of 1886 vehicles, marking that staggering 41 per cent growth year on year. Year to date (as of March 2016), MBM have also increased their market share to 2.3 per cent TIV, marking an increase of 0.5 per over the entire period of 2015.

This makes Mercedes-Benz the undisputed leader in the premium luxury market in 2016.

As Dr Claus Weidner, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia President and CEO explained “Taking pole position doesn’t happen overnight. Our success comes from the combination of all our on-going initiatives. In the year that the Mercedes-Benz brand celebrates its 130! Years of Innovation, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia renews our commitment to the Malaysian market. We will continue to focus on key customer touch points through our dealer network. We will be continuously upgrading our existing dealerships, and we will continue to provide customers with not only The Best products, but also The Best customer experience.”

The sales and after-sales network welcomes two newly revamped Cycle & Carriage Bintang Autohauses in a Petaling Jaya, Selangor and Georgetown, Penang - while the newly minted Mercedes-Benz City Store promises a vibrant new customer experience. All three Autohauses were launched in the first quarter of 2016 at a combined investment of RM15.3 million with more to come in MBM’s aggressive expansion initiatives.

Leading Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s encouraging Q1 performance was the locally produced limousine segment. The ‘bread-and-butter’ models recorded a collective growth of 26% with 1814 vehicles delivered. The all-new C-Class has been instrumental, moving 1359-units or roughly 72 per cent of the total sales of Q1 2015, marking phenomenal growth of 871 per cent! The S-Class remains strong with 195 units delivered, however the E-Class has slowed to 260 units as it reaches the very end of the sales cycle with the all-new model reaching us no later than Mid-2016.

The Mercedes-Benz Compact Cars (namely the A, CLA and GLA models) have soldiered on in Q1 2016 producing a growth of 59 per cent, delivering a total of 664 units. The all-new Mercedes-Benz SUV (GLC, GLE and GLE Coupe) line-up has been well received too, chalking a total of 170 units acquired just months after the market introduction in January. The figure comprises 121 GLC and 49 GLE units out showroom doors. The striking Mercedes-Benz Dream Cars which consists of the most luxurious and bespoke Mercedes-Benz creations such as the S-Class Coupe and the meaty AMG-GTS have also maintained steady momentum in Q1 2016 posting sales of some 20-units in Q1.

Is there any stopping MBM’s current sales offensive, the numbers alone suggest no… and that’s before one tables the three new model introductions (never been sold previously), three more model updates (all-new cars), two new engine variants and one facelift model - all set for 2016 alone. Any guesses? ARVIND KUMAR