DDAIF Mercedes Benz Group AG (PK)

According to an industry research report by TrueCar.com, light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including cars, trucks and sports utility vehicles/SUVs) during 2011 is likely to reach its three-year high at nearly 12.8 million vehicles, compared with 13.2 million vehicles in 2008, driven by continued recovery in the automotive industry. The figure is also higher than 11.6 million vehicles sold last year.

Last month, light vehicle sales rose impressively by 10.6% to seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 13.6 million units from 12.28 million in November 2010, while total deliveries went up 13.9% from the year-ago level despite uncertainties in the market. November was the third straight month when annualized vehicle sales topped the 13 million mark.

The rise in sales was driven by the consumer’s pent-up demand, which was strong enough to boost the demand for trucks, vans and SUVs, as well as luxury lineups like Mercedes and BMW.

The SAAR of 13.6 million units is also the highest sales rate since August 2009 when the U.S. government launched the “Cash for Clunkers” trade-in incentive program. It is a significant improvement from 12.6 million units for the first 10 months of the year.

Chrysler, Daimler (DDAIF), Ford Motor (F), Hyundai, Nissan Motor (NSANY) and Volkswagen (VLKAY) were among the automakers posting double-digit gain in sales in November. Among the Japanese automakers, Toyota Motor (TM) saw its first sales gain since April while Honda Motor’s (HMC) sales were disappointing due to severe flooding in Thailand.

According to TrueCar, General Motors (GM) will continue to be the industry leader in December with an 18.9% market share followed by Ford with 16.5% and Toyota with 14.1%.

 
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