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Mercedes Benz Sales Down 25 Percent in February

Mercedes Benz car sales registered a 25 percent drop in February, over the same period of 2008, according to the company's sales report. This segment of the company sold a total of 72,200 vehicles worldwide, compared to 96,800 in the same month of last year.

Smart delivered 8,600 vehicles to customers worldwide last month, down two percent. The Smart Fortwo has been available in the U.S. since last year and in February customers purchased 1,400 units of the two seater, which actually represents a 29 percent increase.

The worst decline in Mercedes Benz car sales was registered in Western Europe, where the figures point to a 32.2 percent fall. In fact, the manufacturer's performance in terms of units sold diminished in all the regions it operates in, except for one: China. With a moderate, yet encouraging 9.8 percent increase, it became the German company with the fastest-growing premium brand on the Chinese market.

The Mercedes Benz car division reported an EBIT drop of 55 percent compared to the year before, with revenues falling from 52,430 million euros to 47,772 million euros. However, company officials try and keep their hopes up, by looking at well performing brands and markets.

"In recent weeks we've been observing a growing interest among German customers in our new passenger cars and our one year old pre-owned vehicles. In February, sales of the smart fortwo in Germany increased by 28 percent. What's more, there was a substantial increase in orders for the A- and B Klasse." Klaus Maier, Mercedes Benz Cars sales and marketing vice president said.

"The demand for our one year old pre-owned vehicles has also been developing very positively since the beginning of the year, with double-digit growth rates," added the official.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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