Sales of Daimler cars fell 1.4% in July. This fall was precipitated by a 19% drop in sales for larger mercedes vehciles (including the M, G, GL, and R classes).
For Q2 2008, Daimler's unit sales increased 10%. This growth came largely from emerging markets and Daimler's commercial vehicles - as car sales dropped 8% in the European Union and remained flat for the US. Worldwide sales of trucks, vans, and buses increased.[1]
Luxury carmaker Daimler AG will acquire as much as 10 percent of its stock in a $9.3 billion buyback program intended to boost its share price.
On April 9th, Daimler's shareholders voted to increase the annual dividend from 1.50 euros to 2 euros per share.
High December sales pushed Mercedes into the highest annual U.S. volume in its history. The 253,433 vehicles sold by MBUSA in 2007 mark the 14th consecutive year of annual sales growth in the U.S. market. The C-Class - the gateway to the Mercedes-Benz brand for younger and first-time Mercedes-Benz buyers - was the volume leader. Furthermore, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division increased sales of Mercedes-Benz, AMG, Maybach, and smart passenger vehicles worldwide to a record amount of 1,285,900 vehicles.
The legislation passed today increases the federal standard auto makers must meet to an industry wide 35 mpg for passengers cars, SUVs and small trucks. The standard for cars today is 27.5 mpg and for trucks and SUVs 22.2 mpg. The bill also ramps up production of ethanol use to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, up from 6 billion gallons of ethanol produced in 2007.
