Mercedes Benz has enjoyed a five percent rise in new car sales this month compared to the same time last year, the brand's parent company DaimlerChrysler AG said on Monday

In October, the company sold 106,500 cars, up by 1.3 percent from the same month in October 2004, while sales of its ultracompact Smart cars decreased by 18.8 percent to 12,300 units.

Sales of the Mercedes-Benz brand, led by demand for its B-and M-Class models, rose to 94,200, compared with 90,000 sold in October 2004, the company said.

The firm sold a total of 985,100 vehicles in the first 10 months of 2005, up one percent from the same period of 2004.

It said the growth was "buoyed by the successful model launches of recent months and the positive response to the new generation of V6 and V8 engines."

The company said the strongest growth was in Asia, where a 12.1 percent increase to 7,500 deliveries was reported in October, while the numbers in Western Europe rose by 8.3 percent to 36,400.

In Germany, sales fell by 9.1 percent to 35,200 for October in 2004.

Demand is growing strongly for the two sports tourers that Mercedes-Benz launched earlier this year.

"Rapid growth is also being posted for the new M-Class," the company said. In October, deliveries went up by 59 percent to around 9,300 units worldwide.

Source: Xinhua