FRANKFURT -- Mercedes-Benz's global brand sales increased 18 percent in August to 139,802 cars, boosted by demand in China, where the automaker's volume rose 53 percent to 32,763 vehicles.
It was the Mercedes brand's 30th consecutive month of record sales.
Sales at small-car brand Smart rose 9.4 percent in August to 6,317, Daimler said in a statement on Friday. That helped combined sales at Mercedes and Smart grow 17 percent to 146,119 last month.
Along with China, Mercedes brand's deliveries increased 4.8 percent to 28,373 vehicles in the U.S. and 11 percent to 50,304 in Europe.
Daimler said global deliveries were boosted by an 81 percent increase in sales for the new Mercedes C class while sales of the GLA compact crossover helped lift the automaker's volume in China.
Growth is expected to continue given the launch of new vehicles such as the S-class convertible, Ola Kaellenius, Mercedes's marketing and sales chief, said.
Combined eight-month sales for Mercedes and Smart jumped 16 percent to 1.26 million vehicles with volume up 15 percent to 1.18 million for the Mercedes brand and Smart sales rising 29 percent to 77,768.
Reuters contributed to this report
