Daimler's october sales reached record for that month

Photo: Daimler's october sales reached record for that month

Sales of Mercedes-Benz Cars reached their highest October levels ever, rising 12 percent from the same month a year earlier, Daimler AG said Tuesday.

The Stuttgart-based automaker said it sold 114,600 cars worldwide, compared with 102,500 in October 2006.

The unit includes the Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart brands.

The company said that sales from January-October also set a record, rising to 1.05 million compared with 1.03 million in the first 10 months of 2006.

Sales were highest in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes China and Japan, with sales up by 27 percent to 11,400 cars sold, compared with 9,100 a year earlier. In the United States, deliveries increased by 11 percent to 22,800 cars, compared to 20,600 a year earlier.

In western Europe, sales rose 14 percent with 37,800 cars sold, compared to 33,300, while in the company's home market of Germany sales were up slightly to 31,400 from 30,800 a year ago.

Daimler sold 80.1 percent of Chrysler to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LLC for US$7.4 billion (UR5.09 billion) in August, ending a nearly nine-year partnership.

Shares of Daimler fell less than 1 percent to EUR73.60 (US$107.07) in Frankfurt.