The Auto Writer

Mercedes-Benz has had a phenomenal run over the past two decades, going from a small player to a major producer of luxury vehicles for the American market during that time. From 1993 to 2007, Mercedes doubled their total number of luxury nameplates, expanding from luxury cars to now include several sport/utility vehicles among that mix.

In 1993, Mercedes sold just under 62,000 units, but by 2007 that number had topped 253,000. However, year to date (through October 2008) sales for the brand are down 5.3% in an incredibly tough market where many of the company’s competitors (including BMW) are seeing double digit sales losses. Indeed, if Mercedes is able to shrink some of its losses for the year, it’ll regain the luxury brand mantle from BMW who has seen a stiffer drop for 2008 thus far.

Even with a year end sales spike, Mercedes will likely fall just short of last year’s totals, the first year over year loss in more than fifteen years. However, if you figure in Smart and Maybach, parent Daimler will probably see a nominal sales increase for the year as the automaker continues to diversify its American line up.

Some of the biggest gains for Mercedes took place in the late 1990s, coinciding with the Dotcom boom. Increases of 34.6% and 39.2% in 1997 and 1998 respectively have held up, resulting in a permanent expansion in the brand’s market share. Some of that gain can be attributed to a larger luxury car pie, while others customers were conquest sales thanks to America’s two luxury makes – Cadillac and Lincoln – failing to keep pace with relevant new models of its own.

The Mercedes brand is quite profitable too as the automaker says that they sell more vehicles priced over $40,000 than any of their competitors. In addition, one of every three cars sold in America costing in excess of $10,000 is a Mercedes (includes Maybach). Neither Lincoln nor Cadillac participate in this segment.

Currently, Mercedes boasts of having the most diverse luxury product offering with 55 model variants available across 15 model lines of sedans, sport/utility vehicles, coupes, and convertibles. A whopping 72% of all Mercedes vehicles sold in the US since 1952 are still on the road today and more than 100,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles have been delivered to US customers through their European Delivery Program which began in the late 1960s.

Chances are that once the economy rebounds, that Mercedes sales will once again creep up. Though only a few hundred Maybachs are sold each year, look for Smart to also see an increase in sales, propelling parent Daimler further up the American sales chart.

(Source: Mercedes-Benz USA)