BERLIN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Mercedes Benz has registered a year-on-year sales decline of 5.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019 with 560,873 passenger cars sold, the German car manufacturer announced on Tuesday.
Sales in the first quarter of 2019 exceeded 550,000 units for the third year in a row, according to Mercedes Benz. In March, 227,644 vehicles were delivered to customers, a decline of 4.1 percent compared to the same month last year.
"The first three months of the year were challenging worldwide due to the ongoing model changes for SUVs and compact cars," said Britta Seeger, member of the board of management of Daimler AG responsible for Mercedes-Benz cars marketing and sales.
However, in China, with 174,343 passenger cars sold in the first quarter, "the strongest-selling quarter of all time was achieved", according to the company. Sales in March even grew by 5.9 percent.
"We are delighted with the best quarter ever for Mercedes-Benz in China and the successful market launch of the new B-Class in Europe," Seeger added.
Sales of Mercedes' compact van B-Class, which could be ordered since December 2018, increased by 5.3 percent in March. Main growth drivers were Germany, Britain, France and Spain.
According to Mercedes Benz, the first three months of the year were marked by "important model changes" in the SUV and compact-car segments, which are the segments with the highest sales volume.
Based on increasing vehicle availability in the coming months, Mercedes Benz is expecting a slight increase in worldwide sales in 2019.
