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FRANKFURT - Record sales at Mercedes-Benz and an upturn at minicar brand Smart helped sales rise 2.9 percent last month at DaimlerChrysler's premium Mercedes Car Group to 116,000 vehicles, it said on Tuesday.
Mercedes-Benz brand deliveries in May advanced 1.6 percent on a year ago to 103,400 units, boosted by a new generation of the E-Class executive car and continuing strong sales of sport utility vehicles, the company said in a statement.
Record Mercedes-Benz sales in the United States and the Asia-Pacific region have offset a decline in western Europe so far this year, it added, putting the brand's sales up 2 percent to 468,400 vehicles in the first five months of 2007.
Smart sales in May gained 14.7 percent to 12,500 cars, boosted by the new two-seat ForTwo model that went on sale in late March and will make its U.S. debut early next year.
Overall Smart sales in the first five months were down 35.1 percent.
Mercedes Car Group, which also includes the Maybach luxury brand, saw sales fall 1.6 percent to 500,500 cars in the first five months of the year.
It will be the group's core car business after the sale goes through later this year of a majority stake in U.S. arm Chrysler to buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management.
