Following the record month of March, April was another record month. April sales increased 1% from the same time last year. In total 26,932 passenger vehicles were sold and 30,115 vehicles including Mercedes-Benz Vans (2,815 an increase of 28.4% from last year) and the smart brand which sold 93. The strong increase in sales reverses what was looking so far to be a flat year relative to 2017 and is impressive considering 2017 was the best sales year on record for MB. The result is especially strong considering that total February vehicle sales in the US were down 2.4% from 2017.
Dietmar Exler, president and CEO of MBUSA commented that there is very high demand for SUV models and he felt MB’s diverse product offerings put it in a strong position to fulfill customer demands through the summer months. The comment on SUV strength is noteworthy as Ford announced it would stop selling nearly all of its sedan models and focus primarily on SUV models. It would seem presently the traditional sedan has become the unloved model in the U.S. market.
Mercedes-AMG brand sold 2,707 units which is more than any other month to date for 2018. In total 10,326 AMG units have been sold in 2018. The Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned program sold 9,294 vehicles, a monthly sales number that has been relatively consistent for all of 2018 but a decrease of 3.3% year-to-date from 2017.
MBUSA
April 2018
Sales
| Mercedes-Benz Passenger Vehicles |
Apr-18 | Apr-17 | Monthly % | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 | Yearly % |
| B-CLASS | 7 | 66 | -89.4% | 129 | 225 | -42.7% |
| CLA | 1,910 | 1,067 | 79.0% | 7,365 | 5,077 | 45.1% |
| C-CLASS | 5,148 | 7,821 | -34.2% | 18,498 | 28,440 | -35.0% |
| E-CLASS/CLS | 3,945 | 4,059 | -2.8% | 16,380 | 16,375 | 0.0% |
| S-CLASS | 1,535 | 1,491 | 3.0% | 6,100 | 5,139 | 18.7% |
| SLC/SLK | 197 | 326 | -39.6% | 783 | 1,191 | -34.3% |
| SL | 202 | 270 | -25.2% | 842 | 994 | -15.3% |
| AMG GT | 178 | 87 | 104.6% | 559 | 364 | 53.6% |
| GLA | 2,011 | 1,339 | 50.2% | 8,535 | 7,254 | 17.7% |
| GLC | 5,853 | 3,305 | 77.1% | 22,113 | 12,261 | 80.4% |
| GLE | 4,110 | 4,468 | -8.0% | 15,766 | 17,374 | -9.3% |
| GLS | 1,794 | 2,265 | -20.8% | 7,290 | 10,006 | -27.1% |
| G-CLASS | 317 | 368 | -13.9% | 1,321 | 1,373 | -3.8% |
| TOTAL | 27,207 | 26,932 | 1.0% | 105,681 | 106,073 | -0.4% |
| Vans1 | 2,815 | 2,193 | 28.4% | 11,001 | 9,626 | 14.3% |
| smart | 93 | 365 | -74.5% | 414 | 1,426 | -71.0% |
| MBUSA Combined Total |
Apr-18 | Apr-17 | Monthly % | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 | Yearly % |
| GRAND TOTAL | 30,115 | 29,490 | 2.1% | 117,096 | 117,125 | 0.0% |
| 1 Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner Sprinter and Metris Vans are sold and marketed in the U.S. by Mercedes-Benz USA and Daimler Vans USA, respectively. | ||||||
So where does this put Mercedes in relation to its competition? Let’s check it out.
Apr 2018 U.S. Luxury/Premium Passenger Vehicle Sales
| Manufacturer | Sales (April 2018) |
| Mercedes-Benz | 30,115 |
| Volvo | 8,333 |
| Audi | 19,104 |
| BMW | 23,482 |
| Porsche | 5,570 |
| Tesla | 6,000 |
| Jaguar | 2,019 |
| Land Rover | 6,448 |
| Alfa Romeo | 1,847 |
| Maserati | 950 |
| Bentley | 165 |
| Rolls Royce | 112 |
Images: Copyright Daimler AG