Mercedes Sales Spike During First Six Months of 2014

Mercedes Benz has posted its strongest first six months on record as its sales spiked by 13% globally thanks to strong growth in demand from China and other markets is Asia for luxury vehicles.

The carmaker based in Stuttgart, Germany, which is one unit of Daimler AG the automotive group, said its Mercedes brand autos sold 783,520 units during the first half of 2014. Sales for June were up 8% from the same time one year ago to end the month at 142,136.

Separately Audi AG a rival luxury carmaker, which is a unit of Volkswagen AG, announced that its sales in China had increased by 18% to reach 268,665 vehicles for the first six months of 2014.

Audi in June sold 50,755 vehicles in China, which was its strongest month to date.

The data the two automakers provided clearly demonstrates China is the strongest engine when it comes to growing sales for car manufactures from Germany.

In China, brand sales for Mercedes increased by 38% during the first half of this year.

China alone represented 17% of the worldwide sales for the company.

In June, sales in Japan dropped by 27% but were up by 13% over the first six months of the year.

The sales for Mercedes in the region of Asia-Pacific increased as a whole by 30.5% during the first half of 2014 through the end of June.

The strong growth across Asia stands out versus the slower growth in the other large markets for the carmaker.

In Germany, the home market for Mercedes, sales were down by 8% during June and close to flat for the first six months of this year. Across Europe, sales were up by 7.4%.

Mercedes' sales in the U.S., the company's single largest markets were up by 7% through the end of June.

Mercedes is set to launch its newest version of its C-class sedan its bestseller, in September of this year.

Mercedes announced that the flagship S-class sedan saw its worldwide sales double during the first six months of this year.