- Record April market share of 4.7 per cent
- Strongest growth of all main premium German brands year to date
- Registrations up 19.5 per cent in April, 14 per cent YTD
- New B-Class proves a hit with private buyers
- Twice as many AMGs registered in 2012 compared with 2011
- Van and truck registrations rise across the range
Milton Keynes. Mercedes-Benz UK has recorded its largest-ever April market share, according to figures released today by SMMT. 6646 new cars were registered, giving the company a market share of 4.7 per cent – up some 19.5 per cent on the same month last year.
Year to date (YTD), Mercedes-Benz has shown 14 per cent growth, maintaining its record-breaking market share of 4.5 per cent. So far this year, 31,994 new cars have been registered – the strongest growth of any main premium German brand.
Registrations success was shared between private purchasers and fleet business, with April’s results showing growth of 55.8 per cent and 29.5 per cent respectively.
The New B-Class has proved popular with retail buyers, with 236 new privately-purchased cars taking to the roads in April – contributing to a total performance of 2002 YTD.
The C-Class range proved particularly popular in April, with increases across Saloon, Estate, Coupé and AMG variants. YTD figures show that 17.4 per cent more private buyers are choosing C-Class Saloons in 2012, with the SLK-Class proving especially successful across the board – with 1979 of these new Roadsters registered YTD.
Registrations of new AMG high-performance models have doubled YTD to 585, with the C 63 AMG Coupé proving most popular with 189 registrations.
Commercial vehicles
Vans and trucks have shown consistently strong performance in 2012, with YTD growth of 14.1 per cent (Vans), 72.6 per cent (7.5-tonne rigids), and 15.8 per cent (artics).
Vito has grown by over a third YTD, up 35.4 per cent, and 245 Vito Taxis have taken to Britain’s streets in 2012.
Atego and Actros trucks have risen significantly for both the month and YTD. Atego has risen 91.8 per cent in April 2012, and 55.2 per cent YTD while Actros has grown 59.8 per cent and 66.9 per cent YTD over the same periods.
Marcus Breitschwerdt, President and CEO Mercedes-Benz UK commented: “April’s figures are encouraging, as they report significant, sustainable growth across our entire UK business. Our record market share for April and in 2012 shows that, compared with our competition, more people are choosing to own a new Mercedes-Benz than ever before.
“Our success isn’t tied to one model, or dependent on a single part of the market though – we’re offering our new and returning customers attractive products and services in every car sector from A-Class through to AMG. And the Commercial Vehicle market keeps on bouncing back – this year‘s figures don’t even show the New Actros yet – it was only launched here at the end of April, so we’ll wait to see the impact our biggest star has on the results.”
